Of Cobwebs and Crystals
by Piercing Thorn
Summary: Two of the most misunderstood girls meet for the first time. Freshman Lydia Deetz and junior Sarah Williams. when odd things start happening around campus who is to blame? A poltergeist bent on collecting a debt? A Fae king seeking payback? Or could it be something altogether more sinister that requires the help of both these "unwanted" men to save their ladies?
1. First Meeting

Hi everyone, to my followers, look at that; I'm not dead! Yay! So the origins of this are a little mixed. I'd had the basic idea for this floating around in my head for a while, but it wasn't until I'd started working on my second draft of my college essay (it scares the crap out of me to even say that) that it sort of came together into the details of how I wanted to work this thing out. in the second draft, a whole freaking rewrite of the original response I'd written, I talked about dreams and how I feel about them. and so when I talked about those things it reminded me of the two movies contained within and why I love them so much and I realized. I love them because they're different from anything I'd ever seen before. they took chances that in my opinion paid off. were all the endings satisfactory? no, but most stories in life are like that. now, for the sake of the plot there are going to be some things that aren't true, despite the fact that it's set in an actual location etc. etc. and for those of you wondering why I didn't put this in the crossover section, its because I found I get more reviews if I stick with one fandom first and then move it around. to be fair though, this was a writing exercise, like most of my stories are. if people like it, I'll try and add more to it. if not, it's to test my abilities as a writer by bringing in different characters and having them play off of one another while still remaining true to the original character we know and love. but please don't expect me to be updating every couple of days or even every week. I have a lot going on that I need to focus and that means sadly that writing comes second.

enough of my rambling, enjoy the story

Disclaimer: I own neither Beetlejuice nor Labyrinth

* * *

The odd thing about life is that we don't often get what we want, and when we do it's rarely a case of happenstance like most people are led to believe. Getting what we want in life is often orchestrated by those around us, made to look like a series of random coincidences but the truth is that there is nothing miraculous about it. And maybe it is because we do not truly believe that if we wish upon a star we will get what we want, that it never works.

Sure, we indulge in our childish whims every once in a while. We throw coins in a fountain, we search for four leaf clovers, we try to find the end of a rainbow, and we break the wishbone with friends. We do all of these things, and every time we see a shooting star streaking across the night sky we close our eyes, cross our fingers, and we wish with all our "heart" for something to come true. However, the art of wishing isn't that simple.

A wish, in order for it to truly be considered one, must come from the heart. A wish is something that speaks about the most vulnerable parts of ourselves; the things we would never show to anyone, not even those we would trust with our lives. Because it is a dangerous thing to give of one's self completely. To place your trust in the hands of someone else and hope they do not betray it. It is very rare when someone is able to find the courage to do so. It is even rarer to find someone worthy of the act.

Next, the wish can only be fulfilled when there are special circumstances involved. A wish cannot be made at any time of day, any day of the year and be fulfilled. It's far too great and too messy a task. Most wishes can only be fulfilled when the walls between realities are thin and those hopes and dreams can be heard by those who have the power to grant them. The most common are the ancient celebrations of old; Christmas, the New Year, and more notably, Samhain. More commonly known as All Hallows Eve or Halloween, it is the one time of year where all over the world, the veils that divide the living from the deceased, the mortals from the magical, are at their very thinnest. Even more so at the so called "witching hour", just before the dawning of the new day. Even a whisper of a wish can be heard by anyone, though whether they choose to answer it or not is up to them.

Last, the wisher must believe in themselves in order for a wish to come true. Most individuals do not realize they possess some of the old magic gifted to humanity at the very beginning of time. They ignore it for most, if not nearly all their lives. Some realize it and share this gift with others; the artists, the musicians, and perhaps most important; the dreamers. Those who can dream with their eyes wide open are the most important because they are the ones who nurture the spark in others. They who can build houses and towns and kingdoms and even worlds, all without picking up a single stone or brick. The storytellers nurture from the very beginning and open doors to all the rest. Those who are nurtured by the dreamers are truly lucky indeed.

There are very few people who believe in the impossible, and yet when they make a wish it is more likely to be granted. So imagine, one Samhain night, when two people who have never met, never known of the other's existence, never even thought about the consequences of wishing aloud might be –both in a state of wistful melancholy- make the exact same wish.

"_I wish there was someone who understood me"_

The powers of a higher being, far more powerful than any they'd encountered before, heard this wish. The next week an idea was put into someone's head. It was accepted and instituted the following spring. In the middle of July, two letters were sent out. One arrived to an old Victorian in a small town located in the more suburbanly rural areas of New York. The other arrived in a backwater town in the middle of Connecticut.

"_To whom it may concern,_

_The influx of students joining our facility this year is far greater than last, and there is not enough housing in the freshman dormitories to accommodate everyone. Therefore, there may be some freshman rooming with sophomores and even juniors come this fall. In order to prevent discrepancies and institute more harmony in the student body as a collective whole a personality assessment was sent out earlier in the year. Towards the end of August you will receive the results of these assessments i.e. your roommate for the upcoming school year. We thank you for your understanding in advance_

_-Abigail Wilsons_

_President of Salem State University"_

The two young women read these letters and showed them to their closest companions, who gave advice that was basically to make the best of it. It had been a fairly simple questionnaire and with quite a few written response questions there was very little chance that the administrative faculty could botch it up horrendously. Placated, this news slipped from their heads, both intent on enjoying their hobbies to the fullest before a new academic year began.

In the third week of August another letter came. This time listing the dorm building, room number, and name and level of the student's roommate for the year. Most were overjoyed, a few people had decided to go to the same school as their friends. As such they had filled out the questionnaire together and ended up rooming together. However it was not the case for our main characters.

"Huh, I'm rooming with a freshman this year." Said one.

"Why ya gotta?" came the scratchy voice of a wizened old man.

"I don't know. That's just the way they decided to do things this year I suppose."

"Perhaps thou mayst get the chance to play the heroine once more my lady." Came a third voice.

"What do you mean?"

"I think what 'e means issat you could help the little lost one around, like you wanted when you was new." The old man said.

"Make new friend." Chimed in a gravelly, almost animalistic voice.

The young woman laughed. "Oh, I see what you guys mean. But this means I won't get to have you guys over as often as last year. I'll always have to be on the lookout for my roommate to make sure she doesn't think I'm crazy. Though, if she did she might request to move and I could get a dorm all to myself like last year."

The group shared a collective laugh at that remark. But the evening was wearing on and the three males could see they were tiring out their companion.

The old man spoke, more soberly and seriously than the young woman had ever heard, well, except for the time they thought they would never see each other again.

"Just remember one very important thing little lady."

"What's that?"

"Should ya need us, for, any reason…" he trailed off.

The young woman gave a small smile, tears slightly glassy from both fatigue and unshed tears at the loyalty of her friends. "I'll call." She finished.

* * *

"Huh, I'm rooming with a junior my first year there." Miles away, said the other.

The incoming freshman's friends took this as a positive. "Just think, you'll have someone who already knows the ropes to help you out. Won't that be great?"

"Even if they're the most wonderful person in the world, they won't be you guys." She replied morosely. "I wish you guys could come with me."

"Don't you worry honey, we'll still find a way to talk. We might even try using the phone again after all these years." Said a man.

"Oh please" a woman quipped. "You know how that turned out the last time. They had to rewire the whole house."

"Well maybe the new wiring will handle better." He rebutted.

A throaty chuckle filled the air. "Maybe." She acquiesced.

The youngest of the three watched this exchange and smiled. If she hadn't met them, her life would have been different. Darker and more deadly. More ebony than the pleasant gray it was now.

* * *

Ah, September. When the warmth of the summer sun still lingers, yet the fiery hues and soft muted grays of the sky stark to subtly sneak in. The autumn was most beautiful in New England, evidenced by the tourists not just from all over the country but even from around the world, flocking in to the leaves glow and fall. And in Salem Massachusetts it was no different. In its university campus students gathered. Some meeting friends again, some finding new ones, some uniting against a new pond in which they were yet again the little fish, and the older, more seasoned ones ready for summer to come once again.

Among these students, a self-confident young woman strolled across the campus. Many who laid eyes on her would say she was stunning, and she was. However, they would all agree there was something off with her. Despite her warm smile and endearing nature she always seemed a step out of reality. Some hidden aura radiating that the warm attitude was like a small campfire, enjoyable enough, but do something wrong and it could become an instant inferno. It was a warning to all not to get too close.

This young woman loved the fall, especially here on campus. But then again, the whole town just exuded mystic and charm and, though she would never admit it aloud, magic. It had been what drew her here in the first place. But, she reasoned, it was probably part and parcel to being the site of a gruesome inquisition that had taken place almost three-hundred years ago.

And yet despite all that, this place had become a home away from home these past two years. And she thought that if she could find a well-paying job she might just settle here for good. Would she return to New York? Of course, her family was there and she still had some hopes of making it big as a Broadway actress, following in her mother's footsteps. But still, the attitude here was infectious. And she was never lonely, if she needed someone she knew her friends were only a thought, and a mirror away.

Pulling out the letter she'd received a few weeks prior she looked at the name of the dorm building she'd been assigned to. Slightly on the fringe of the campus was an old dilapidated mansion, the official name was Parris manor, in honor of the family who'd started the events which had landed Salem in the history books in the first place, but most students called it the Crypt. It was rumored to be haunted, as no one could stay there for more than a month without begging the head of student life to put them somewhere else or snagging the first available apartment nearby. She had heard tale of one student leaving the school all together after spending a week there. No matter, she had handled worse than a supposed haunting, she could handle this. Tightening her grip on her bags and that paper in hand, she marched towards her new temporary home.

* * *

Meanwhile another young woman, was searching for the exact same building. Sighing at the inability to accurately take the images of a map and bring them into the real world she looked around. There, at the far edge of campus, oh she liked the look of that. It would make a great subject for some photo expeditions. A grin tugged on the corners of her mouth, and the edges of her lips quirked, a reflex that had grown more and more prominent the more time she'd spend back in Connecticut.

Despite the exterior looking dark and foreboding, the inside was more welcoming and warm. She was in room 313. Looking around she saw no elevator, but rather a grand staircase that opened up into the main foyer. Well, she didn't have much anyways so it wasn't that bad. Lugging her things up the three flights of stairs wasn't even that bad, if a little monotonous in her opinion. At last, room 313. She slid her key into the lock and turned the knob. The room itself was spacious, but still contained two beds in the same room. She saw someone bending over one of the beds, an opened and partially unpacked suitcase lying on top of it. Ah, must be that junior roommate of hers.

"ahem." She cleared her throat, and the other female turned around. Long hair the color of dark chocolate framed a pale heart-shaped face. Green eyes the color of forest foliage looked back at her. And for her part the other woman was examining her carefully. She wasn't anything extraordinary. Pale skin almost untouched by the sun, medium length ebony locks, and eyes so brown they almost looked black. That was about it.

The brunette stepped forward. "So you're my new roommate huh?"

"Yep."

"Well, I suppose it's kinda redundant since we got those letters but I guess we should properly introduce ourselves."

"I guess."

"Sarah Williams." She said sticking out her hand.

The dark haired girl looked at the outstretched hand for a moment before cautiously taking it.

"Lydia Deetz."

* * *

so, more a prologuey exposition beginning than I usually do, but hey like a I said, this is a writing exercise for me to test my abilities. now it's time to tell me what you thought. liked it? tell me what you want to see more of. hated it? tell me what I can improve on. however, let it be constructive criticism, don't just flame me because it pisses me off and doesn't help either one of us. okay, I leave the fate of this potential story in the hands of you guys. good luck!


	2. Compromise

Two chapters in as many days. I'm impressed with myself. So, more dialogue plot set up stuff before we can get to the fun I'm afraid but I promise it will all be worth it.

Disclaimer: I own neither Beetlejuice nor Labyrinth

* * *

"So, you're an incoming freshman this year?" Sarah began awkwardly, still not knowing how to talk to most people comfortably. Though it didn't help when her roommate was the definition of a stereotypical sullen Goth girl. Dressed head to toe in black, though her shirt did sport a silvery cobweb design on the front.

"Yeah, and you're a junior. I think we've already done a great job establishing this fact." Lydia replied. "it looks like you've already picked out your bed, guess the other one's mine."

"Sorry about that, I just don't like sleeping too near windows."

"Why?"

"An, um, incident a few years ago left me a little shaken up. I don't mind sitting next to windows or even having them open a night, but sleeping next to them is out of the question." Sarah told girl, turning back around to finish unpacking.

"I can understand that, the same kind of thing happened to me."

"Do you not like being around windows? I can switch if it makes you uncomfortable."

"No, what I'm not comfortable around has no chance of getting me here." The understatement of the century. If what Adam and Barbra had told her was true, she'd be meeting him in the waiting room before he ever got the chance to make another grab at her.

They passed the next few minutes in silence, unpacking and repacking their clothes in the dressers and closets provided. Sarah thought she ought to say something, but wasn't sure how to engage the younger girl in conversation. What to say? What to say? Well, the results of the personality assessment had put them together, maybe they had something in common.

"So, why did you decide to come to Salem state?" she asked.

"It got me out of where I was." Lydia replied. She looked around and noticed a large bare spot between the two beds. "Any idea what's supposed to go there?"

"I think a vanity is, but there wasn't one there when I came here." Sarah told her. "I was thinking of either telling the faculty or having my dad bring my old one up. What do you think?"

"I think it'd be better to just buy your own. You could always sell it at the end of the year."

"Well, I don't want some great big vanity to sell, and I don't want something obstructive. There are plenty of antique shops in town. Why don't we pick one out together before school starts?"

"Hm."

There was more silence, and everything else was put away. The two girls each sat on their respective beds and looked around. Both wondered why they had been paired with the other when it seemed they had nothing in common. Neither Lydia nor Sarah was bothered by silence when they were alone, but when in the company of each other their tension emanated until the air seemed palpable with it.

Finally, Lydia took initiative. "These walls are bland, aren't they?"

"I thought so too. I wish they would allow us to repaint them a better color than the clinical white I've always seen."

"What colors would you use?" please don't let her say pink, _please_ don't let her say pink.

"Anything but pink. For me personally, I'd choose some dark greens, or blues or reds, maybe even purple. But again, it would have to be really dark. No lavender or pastels. What about you?

"Black, or maybe some deep mahogany colors. I might even like some granite colored walls. But you're right; absolutely no pastel colors of any kind."

"Unfortunately we can't repaint the walls, though God knows they could use it. I'm probably going to put up some posters on my side of the room."

"Once I can get around with my camera and do some exploring I'll put up some pictures of this place on my side."

"You didn't bring any pictures of family or friends with you?"

"I'm not very close to my family, and I didn't have and friends to take pictures with back home."

"Oh, so you like photography? Are you taking any classes for that here?"

"I'm taking the History of Photography and Photography I. along with the prerequisites of course."

"I'm taking a couple of art courses myself."

"Which ones?"

"Ancient and Medieval Art, Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo art, and Topics in Renaissance Art."

"Impressive, you must really like art." Lydia dryly remarked.

"Oh no, I'm more interested in the tapestries of medieval times, but a lot of renaissance art took influence from the medieval art so I figured it'd be a good idea to take the other courses too. What I'm really looking forward to this year are my history courses."

"What are you taking?"

"Well, I already took Intro to European History and Medieval Europe. This year I'm taking Tudor-Stewart England and Magic and Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe. It'll pair up with my British Literary Studies course."

"Magic and Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe? I'm taking that course this year."

"You are?"

"One of the things that drew me here in the first place is that Salem is home to the famous witch trials that took place in 1692. One of my final history projects was about the Salem witch trials."

"Me too, but why is it so interesting to you?"

"It's a little hard to explain. But there's this…" Lydia trailed off, not really knowing how to explain it properly without sounding weird.

"Mystique? Romanticism?" Sarah supplied.

Lydia looked at her. "Yeah, I mean, I know it was horrible and all. People were falsely accused by their neighbors and hung or burned at the stake. It was ghastly and grisly and probably horrifying for those involved. But at the same time it-"

"Sounds like something straight out of a Grimm's fairytale?"

"You _read_ the Grimm's fairytales?" it was hard to believe there was someone who not only had read the Grimm's fairytales, but actually sounded like she _enjoyed_ them. Lydia had gotten into them when she was around thirteen, when her mother left, and found the extremely dark tales a comforting balm for her wounded soul. The more she read, deeper her affection for the Gothic culture grew.

"Yeah, I'd always enjoyed fairy tales as a little kid. My mom was an actress and I used to watch her rehearse at home. The way she brought those characters to life still amazes me quite honestly. But that incident I told you about earlier was sort of like an epiphany for me. I learned that things weren't always what they seemed. So I started looking into the history of fairytales when I was about fifteen and I fell in love with the Brothers Grimm. Then I started looking even deeper, I got caught up in the world of Shakespeare and the Arthurian legends. I want to be an expert on those because it's something I enjoy." Wow. Sarah was surprised at herself, she usually never revealed that much about herself to someone she'd just met.

"I feel the same way about photography." Lydia told her.

"And the witchcraft course?"

"People tend to ignore the strange and unusual. I think it's better to be informed about it. You might not understand, but you can't necessarily say you'll be caught unawares."

"I feel the exact same way."

* * *

The next day the girls went out into town looking for a vanity to fill up that bare spot.

"So," Lydia said as they walked along the street through the shops. "As a seasoned junior do you have any advice about school for me?"

"You mean besides the usual take good notes, don't nod off in class, get your assignments in on time and start studying for your exams two months in advance?"

"Yeah, besides that."

"Hm," Sarah thought for a moment. What had she wished she'd known when she was a freshman? "I suppose the best advice I can give you is to keep your head down and don't cause trouble, pick out a club that feels right the second you lay eyes on it, and that you shouldn't waste money on food when the food on campus is actually pretty decent and will do most nights."

"It is?"

"Yeah, only found that one out after I still had a lot of money left on my food plan from freshman year that wasn't going to carry over to sophomore year and no allowance money left."

"Oh."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't start actually eating in there until you have a friend or two to eat with you. There are a couple of catty girl groups that just live to pick on loners. So until you have someone you feel comfortable with get your food to go and bring it back to the dorm."

"Speaking from experience?"

"Just a little, I was put on probation at the end of freshman year because I got tired of this one girl and her stupid cronies constantly annoying me."

"What did you do?"

"Let's just say that she was a pretty girl back then. She's not so pretty anymore."

"You beat her up?"

"No, I slapped her and when she went for my neck I scratched up her face. Oh look," she said stopping short. "There looks like a good place to try." She pointed to a small hole in the wall shop with a wooden sign embossed with fancy script. _Dreams of a Forgotten Past_ it read.

"Works for me." Lydia replied.

They went in. the place was rather dimly lit, and seemed a little dusty. An old bell over the door announced their arrival to the otherwise empty storefront. From behind an old front counter a withered old woman called.

"Welcome dears, how can I help you?"

"We're here looking for something." Said Lydia.

"Oh now that's no good." The old woman replied. "In here you won't find anything you look for but something will most definitely find you. But is there anything you want to look at to get an idea first?"

"We're looking for a vanity." Said Sarah.

"Okay, right this way then." The old woman stepped out from behind the counter and hustled off into the recesses of the store. Sarah and Lydia doubled their stride in order to keep up. They followed through twists and turns and upstairs and down. Eventually they came to a halt.

"Here we are!" the old woman said. "Here are a few pieces I have."

The "few" pieces were more like fifty. So Sarah and Lydia split up to try and find something. Sarah went for the more round shapes mirrors and plush stools. Whereas Lydia gravitated towards the square shaped mirrors and bench chairs. They just couldn't find anything they agreed on.

"Well, that's all of them." Lydia said after a while.

"And we couldn't find a single one we both liked." Lamented Sarah. "Guess we need to head out and try again."

Lydia nodded in agreement.

"Wait just a minute dears!" called the old woman as they turned to go. "I do have one more piece for you to see if you're interested." She led them into a back room, the door to which had been disguised as an armoire. Inside lay the most beautiful piece of furniture either girl had ever seen.

It was made of dark cherry wood and was a most unique design. It had three mirrors, the middle one the largest and circularly shaped. The other two were rectangular, but the sides next to the middle mirror were curved so it all seemed to flow as one big mirror. The top space was large, and the chair was a brocade cushioned bench large enough for two people to comfortably share. There were four shallow drawers underneath the top space that tapered into curved legs with clawed feet. The glass was smooth and clear. It looked to be in better condition than any of the others they had seen.

"This is a beautiful piece." Sarah exclaimed.

"I've never seen anything like it." Lydia added, façade slipping just a little.

"Isn't it?" the old woman said, a note of pride in her voice. "Do you like it?"

Sarah looked at Lydia, who nodded. "I think it's something we could both agree on. Why was it all the way back here though?"

"It's on hold." The woman replied.

"On hold? You mean, someone's already bought this?" Lydia asked.

"Sort of. This shop has been in my family for generations. But it wasn't always an antique shop. It used to be a specialty furniture shop where if you couldn't find a piece you liked you could have one made to order. This one was ordered and paid for up front, but the owners never came to collect it. As time passed mass production started to dominate the industry so my husband and I decided to convert this place to an antique store. People have come and gone, but you girls are the first people I've felt could truly appreciate this piece."

"You mean you want to sell it to us?" Sarah asked.

The woman nodded. "I've had this piece for so long I've lost track of how many years it's been here. And the other reason I decided to open an antique shop is because I saw so many beautiful things cast out by people who couldn't appreciate them. I take them in and make them beautiful again. I give them a chance to be seen by people who can appreciate them. What I really want for everything in my store is to find a loving home where they can belong."

"And you think it belongs with us?" Lydia said skeptically.

"Call it an old woman's gut feeling." She replied.

"Well how much do you want for it?" Sarah asked, pulling out her wallet.

The old woman shook her head. "I told you I want all my pieces to find a loving home. If you girls can promise me you'll love and take care of this piece, it's yours."

"For free?"

"For free." The old woman nodded. "Do you want it?"

"Yes." The girls replied.

"Do you promise to take good care of it and treat it well?"

"We do."

The old woman smiled. "Good. Then you have yourselves a vanity. Give me an hour to call up some friends and have them move it out front. Then you can take it home." She ushered them out of the back rooms, taking a couple of turns and like magic, they were back in the storefront. The girls were bewildered

"Thank you very much." Sarah said as she and Lydia walked out the door.

"You're quite welcome dear." The old woman replied as the door shut behind them.

* * *

Later that night Sarah and Lydia had the movers place their vanity in the bare space between their beds. It looked right at home, just as if it had belonged in the dorm room in the first place. As night fell, Sarah and Lydia ordered takeout from a local Chinese place and sat atop their beds eating and discussing their luck at finding such a piece and getting it for free. Eventually they bid each other goodnight and good luck for the upcoming first day and slid into bed. Exhaustion taking over almost instantly and sending them off to dreamland.

Through the window near Lydia's bed, the moon shone through into the room, bathing everything in it in a soft pale blue glow. It caught the reflective surface of the mirrors, still reflective, but now a little cloudy. The glass rippled like water went still once more.

* * *

before the reviews come in. NO the vanity will not be the cause of the weird stuff that's going to happen. it's a way of communication between Sarah and her friends, and Lydia and our favorite ghost with the most. think of it like a mystic cell phone okay? now again please leave a review. like it so far? tell me what you want to see more of. didn't like it? leave a constructive comment on what I can do to improve. but remember, ALL FLAMES WILL BE REPORTED AND REMOVED. I thank you all in advance


	3. Bad News

twice in one day? this is a new record for me.

Disclaimer: I own neither Labyrinth nor Beetlejuice

* * *

The first few weeks of the new school year were rather uneventful. Sarah and Lydia would go to their classes and come back. When they both had the free time they would eat lunch in the cafeteria together, discussing professors they had both had or Sarah would give advice to Lydia about courses. When they did not have the time, both would carry take out back to the dorm and eat alone. Homework was done together in the dorm and library. They even sat together during their one shared class, arguably their favorite.

Their teacher, one Professor James Proctor was the draw. One could always tell he was very passionate about what he taught, though much of the enrollment in the class was not because of intrigue in the subject; but rather female interest in him. There was no doubt that he was handsome, tall and broad shouldered, with dark hair a little long for a male that seemed perpetually mused. A peppered scruff covered his chin while protuberant gray eyes flashed from behind round-wired spectacles. The rest of his appearance was just as unkempt, though he dressed classically in casual suits and tweed jackets, they always seemed a little shoddy, like there was a perpetual loose thread hanging from somewhere on his person. However, he had one bad quality, whenever someone would question why they were learning something he would go off on a raging tangent. At first, it had been slightly scary and entertaining at the same time. But as the questioning why became more frequent (once every class) and the tangents became longer and more theatrical, the novelty of it wore off. One such particular tangent left Sarah daydreaming, staring out the window while Lydia scribbled and doodled in her notebook. Neither worried about missing any notes as they had their tape recorders out and on.

"Thus!" the declaration, accompanied by the slam of hands on the table in front of Sarah and Lydia startled them both. They looked away from what they were doing to see Professor Proctor bracing his hands on the wood before them and leaning in. the girls instinctively leaned back ever so slightly. "We learn the _importance_ of remaining alert and vigilant when dealing with dangerous situations. Tell me Miss Williams, what knowledge did you glean from today's lecture?" he looked at her expectantly.

Sarah thought for a moment, what would be easier? To lie and make something up, or tell the truth and risk getting a bad grade for the whole semester based on offending a professor who suffered from severe mercurial mood swings?

"I learned… that the importance of what we're learning can never be stressed enough." She gave a winning smile. Professor Proctor seemed placated and smiled back before turning his attention to Lydia.

"And you Miss Deetz? What did you learn today?"

"That the Barbie girls who have no clue what's going on should learn to shut their big mouths?"

A wave of laughter rippled through the classroom at the remark. Sarah had to duck her head to hide her silent chuckles, though the way her shoulders shook let everyone know just what she was doing. Professor Proctor gave a wry smile.

"Astute observation Miss Deetz, though it would have been better if you'd thought to say it two weeks ago." The bell rang. "Read chapters eight through ten and take notes for homework tonight. Class dismissed."

* * *

As they exited the lecture hall, Sarah and Lydia headed toward the library.

"What was all that about today?" Sarah asked.

"Not sure, I zoned out the minute what's-her-name, Clarisse raised her hand. But I'm sure we'll find out when we rewind what happened." She held up her tape recorder.

Sarah laughed. "You're right. Hey, have you gotten the chance to go exploring yet?"

"No, but I want to soon before winter sets in and all the possible shots I can get are gone." They walked along for a few moments in companionable silence.

"I know the feeling. Auditions are coming up soon."

"How soon?" Lydia had been informed that Sarah was a proud member of the school's theatre company and while she had been cast in leading roles, she'd yet to be cast as one of the star roles that everyone went for.

"This weekend."

"Ah, what are you guys doing again?"

"Much Ado about Nothing."

"Who are you auditioning for?"

"Beatrice."

"Why not Hero?"

"She's not really the leading lady when you really think about it. It's almost like she and Claudio exist for the sole purpose of getting Beatrice and Benedick together. Besides, I really connect with her character."

"Not one to lay about like a delicate flower?"

"I'd much rather be the hero than the damsel."

* * *

After finishing their work for Professor Proctor's class in the library they headed home. Once inside the lobby the supervisor approached them.

"I have someone on the phone for you Lydia." They said.

"I wonder who it could be." She said as she took the phone. "Hello?"

There was silence a moment then she heard it. "Lydia?"

"Adam?"

"Yes it's me Lydia."

"Oh my god Adam! It's so great to hear you. Does this mean you actually got the phone to work?"

Sarah watched the exchange and motioned to Lydia that she'd be upstairs if she was needed.

* * *

Almost an hour later, Lydia strode through the door. Sarah was on her bed doing homework for some of the other courses she had. The brunette looked up from her textbook to the Goth striding to her bed, a huge smile stretched across her face.

"Hey," said Sarah. "Someone looks happy."

"I am."

"What took you so long?"

"I was catching up with Adam and then Barbra wanted to talk and before I knew it an hour had flown by."

"Adam? Barbra?" Sarah raised a brow. "Who are they?"

"They were some really nice people I met when I moved from New York to Winter River Connecticut."

"So they're friends of yours?"

"More like family. I, I was in a bad place when I met them. But they helped me get out of it. I probably love them just as much if not more than my birth parents."

"So why don't you have any framed pictures of them hanging around?"

"Oh, well um…" Lydia scrambled for an explanation. "They don't film well," biggest understatement of her entire life. "And they're not very good with technology, that's why it took them so long to call me." She thought of something. "But I was able to draw some portraits of them. Do you wanna see?"

"Sure." Sarah watched as Lydia dug through her bag and pulled out a book. Inside were several sketches she'd done over the years. She held out a stack to Sarah.

"Here's Adam." She showed a picture of man's side profile, floppy hair and large glasses covering his face pairing with his plaid shirt.

"And here's Barbra." She held out another picture, this one of a woman with long curly hair and a sweet motherly face, it was drawn in a way that she looked as though she was peeking out over her shoulder.

"And here's the two of them together." Sarah saw a portrait reminiscent of a photo. Both of them were looking at the artist smiling widely. It was so detailed and vivid Sarah could practically feel their happiness seeping through the paper and into the room.

"Wow, these are incredible." She said while rifling through the rest of the stack when something caught her eye. It was a drawing of a man, he wore a black and white striped suit and had a disheveled head of hair. His eyes were sunken in and he stood slightly hunched over, his hands in his pockets and a devil-may-care grin painted on his face. There were quite a few more as she looked through the rest of the papers. On another page Sarah saw him again, arms crossed, head tilted, and mouth curved in a knowing smirk that reminded her of someone she used to know, and that scared her.

"Who is this?" she asked, showing the first picture to Lydia.

Lydia looked up, her expression went blank, and if she could have gotten any paler, Sarah would assumed that's what was happening. Maybe she shouldn't have asked.

"It's no one. Just a nightmare I had when I was fifteen, that's all."

"_Just_ a nightmare?" Sarah asked, holding up all the other drawings.

"A recurring nightmare." Lydia replied tersely as she snatched back the drawings and stuffed them in her bag without a care as to whether or not they would crumple. She hoped they did. Lydia looked out the window, it was nearing sunset, but she still had some time. She snatched her camera off her side of the shared vanity, tossed a quick "I'm heading out." behind her, and was out the door.

* * *

After another hour out around the grounds of the dorm building, Lydia was feeling a lot better, and a lot guiltier.

_Maybe I overreacted_ she thought. _I mean, it's not as if Sarah knows what I went through, how deeply it affected me. I should apologize_. Resolving to do just that, Lydia started back to the front of the building. She felt a slight shiver pass through her and heard a gravelly voice snap, "Hey! Watch where you're walking!"

Lydia turned around. Standing before her was a little old woman in a dove gray business suit and pearls. She had a short gray bob and stood looking at Lydia one hand on her hip, the other moving a cigarette to and from the lips, the drag's exhale smoke coming from her mouth, her nose, and a slit in her throat. She remembered something Adam and Barbra told her when she'd asked about _Him_ a few months after the incident. Their caseworker Juno had it all under control.

"Are you, Juno?" she asked cautiously.

"And are you Lydia Deetz?" she responded sarcastically. "Of course I'm Juno, and while you shouldn't know who I am I can't say I'm surprised that the Maitlands told you about me."

"Why are you here? Is something wrong? Did Adam and Barbra break a rule by calling me?"

"They called you?" Juno seemed surprised by this news. "Their powers must be growing, I'll need to check in on them when I'm done here. But first, I'm here on business that concerns you."

"Concerns me? What are you talking about?"

Juno sighed and took another drag on her cigarette. "I'm afraid that I've done everything I can. But this is something I can't stop, so I thought I might at least warn you."

"What do I need to be warned about?" Lydia's apprehension was growing now. If Juno had to come all the way from the afterlife to warn her it could only mean one thing; _He_ was coming for her.

"Three years ago you made a contract to save the Maitlands from being exorcized. In exchange for help, you promised to marry-"

"No! I won't marry him! I can't!"

"I know I know. And I've done everything I can to try and ensure it didn't happen. At first I gave him that incredibly and stupidly long waiting number to try and keep him at bay and give me some time to try and dissolve the contract. But he managed to sucker some poor other soul into switching with him and by the time he came whirling in the only thing I had was that you were too young."

"Too young?"

"You were fifteen when you made the contract yes?"

"Yeah, what does that have to do with it?"

"I managed to persuade the higher ups that he couldn't go after you because you were too young by mortal standards. You weren't considered an adult and therefore you weren't considered capable of making your own decisions."

"Hey!"

"I managed to buy you some more time, so be a little grateful for that insult." Juno took yet another drag. "Problem is you turn eighteen this year."

"So that means I'm considered an adult capable of making my own decisions." Lydia realized what Juno was implying. "You mean he's coming to get me and force me to marry him?"

"Not quite, because of his sleazeball ways I also managed to convince the higher ups that he couldn't come and force you to marry him, the decision was entirely up to you."

"And naturally I'll refuse." Lydia chimed in.

"However," Juno continued. "Should you refuse his service to the Maitlands will be revoked and they will be exorcized effective immediately."

"So I'm pretty much being blackmailed into marrying him aren't I?" Lydia replied sullenly.

"You say that like you didn't already know." Juno said. "But,"

"There's a but?" Lydia asked skeptically.

"I might have found a tiny loophole in the situation."

"And what's that?"

"The deal from the higher ups never specifies that you _have_ to give him an answer. It just says that he has the right to ask you to marry him and that should you refuse the Maitlands will be exorcized."

"So you mean if I don't give him an answer, the Maitlands are still safe and I don't have to marry him?" the young woman was dubious about the whole thing. "How long can I go on this?"

"Until someone says something, we find another way out of this, or you get yourself married. But I warn you, if I know Juice he'll be busting out of the waiting room the minute the clock strikes midnight gunning for you, and he'll ruin every chance at a relationship you might get in order to make you desperate enough to agree to marry him." Juno stopped. "I can't do anything more to interfere. This deal was started between you and Juice, and I'm afraid that's how it has to end. I hope you can figure something out if you don't want to marry him."

"I'm sure he's broken enough rules over the years. Why hasn't he been exorcized?"

Juno gave her a sad look. "We've tried, it didn't work." She took one last drag on her cigarette, as she exhaled the smoke consumed her and she disappeared.

* * *

When Lydia got back to the entrance to her room she remembered what she'd been about to do when Juno waylaid her. As she approached the door she realized that she hadn't shut it all the way when she left, it was still open a crack. And she heard voices coming from inside. Closing one eye she peered through the slim crack and saw Sarah sitting in front of the vanity and talking to it, and it seemed it was answering back.

"What should I do?" Sarah lamented, I feel horrible about asking her about that. It was clearly a touchy subject."

"Aw, come on Sarah, ya didn't means nothin' by it." Came an old scratchy voice.

"Then why do I feel so bad?"

"Sarah sad?" came another voice, sounding more like the rumbling of a small bear than an actual voice.

"My lady, if thou feelest thou hath made a blunder, then mend the bridge posthaste." Came one more voice, sounding like a knight of old.

"Right, I will when she gets back. It was so nice to talk to you guys again. I miss you."

"Didn't you says 'at you was gonna trys and makes your roommate leaves so's we coulds visits more often?" Lydia saw the voice was coming from a short old man in the center mirror.

"I thought I would at first, but she's really not so bad. I think you would actually like her Hoggle."

"Doth that meaneth thou wilst forget us my lady?" this voice belonged to a small foxlike being dressed like someone from Don Quixote.

"Never Sir Didymus. You guys will always be my closest friends."

"Sarah friend?" came the animalistic voice that did belong to some type of beast Lydia had never seen before.

"Yes Ludo, I'll always be your friend. I have to go now, she could be back at any moment. Goodbye guys."

"Bye Sarah." They chorused, and disappeared. The mirror was once more just that.

Lydia pulled back and tried to calm her racing heart, what on earth had she just seen? Maybe the stress of Juno's news was causing her to hallucinate. Yeah that's what happened, she'd just been hallucinating. Shoring up her courage, Lydia knocked on the door.

"Sarah?" she called as the door swung open. What a relief, Sarah was there on her bed, almost as if she hadn't moved since Lydia's departure.

"Yes?" Sarah looked at her roommate.

"I just wanted to, apologize for the way I acted when I left. That picture, was just from a really scarring point in my life and it hasn't quit healed yet." _And it definitely won't if He gets at me_ she thought.

"I totally understand. I want to apologize for pushing you to talk about it. Everyone has their nightmares, even me." And she hadn't learned to leave the source of hers behind.

"So," Lydia shifted from one foot to the other. "Are we okay?"

Sarah smiled, "Yeah, we're okay."

Lydia breathed a sigh of relief and yawned. The whole day had been emotionally exhausting. "I think I'm gonna turn in for the night."

"Me too. Night Lydia."

"Night Sarah."

* * *

And as they both slept that night, an owl perched on a tree branch and peered into the room. It stayed perfectly still, watching one of the two young women through the night.

And just before the sun could rise the next day, off it flew into the sky.

* * *

you know the drill by this point. liked it? tell me why. didn't? leave a constructive comment


	4. Being Beatrice

So far so good, and if you're annoyed with how slow things seem to be moving, trust me you're not alone. Normally by this point we'd already be halfway through the adventure, but I wanted to take some time to explain why it's moving at the pace it's moving. I have a couple more characters I need to introduce before things really get started and I need to spend some time developing Sarah and Lydia's relationship before I bring in their men. but the plot will pick up from here I promise, and I'm sorry in advance for all the teasing hints about our two favorite trouble makers but at this point it doesn't make sense for them to fully appear.

Disclaimer: I own neither Labyrinth nor Beetlejuice

* * *

After Lydia had left in a huff, Sarah tried to distract herself by doing the rest of her homework. When that didn't work she went through her things and found an old picture. It was of a sixteen year old her and a one year old Toby, taken during the fall after she'd run the Labyrinth. Back then she'd still been super protective of her baby brother; after all, she'd just gone through hell and back to save him, she didn't want anyone to take him away. He seemed more than thrilled that someone else was paying attention to him and he latched onto Sarah with abandon.

Sarah smiled, remembering all the time she and Toby would spend together the months following her stupid mistake. She would often take him to the park, the two of them dressed up in costumes, and play act together with their sheepdog Merlin as their only audience. Other times they would just go sit by the pond and Sarah would read to him from her tome of fairy tales, not the dark ones she'd become interested in, but the ones she'd had in her possession since she was Toby's age. And she would watch him smile and babble at the pictures and voices she used while narrating to him. All at once she felt a stirring of melancholy, she hadn't called her family once since she'd arrive, and the now five year old Toby always took her departure the hardest. She looked at the clock on her nightstand, half past seven. Toby would be already asleep by now, and as much as she loved her parents she didn't want to have that awkward idle chitchat she'd had every time she'd called them over the past two years.

But she needed to talk to someone. Who? Then she remembered, if she ever needed anyone to talk to about anything she had three people always willing to listen. Sliding off the bed she sat in front of the vanity and made to say her words, and stopped. She looked at the person staring back at her, she was almost twenty years old now. But did she really look any different from when she was fifteen? Did she really feel or act any different from when she was fifteen? In fact, if she examined herself closely she was still the same old Sarah Williams she'd always been. A little less blindsided and bitter over her mother's abandonment and her father's choice to move on perhaps. But the heart of her was still the same, wasn't it? Maybe she really did need to have a chat.

"Ludo, Sir Didymus, Hoggle I... I need you." The last part came out as a whisper.

The three mirrors before her fogged and rippled and suddenly, there they were. Hoggle in the middle mirror with Ludo and Sir Didymus on the sides. Sarah bit back tears at seeing them again.

"What's wrong little lady?" Hoggle asked.

"Has someone insulted your honor my lady?" Didymus questioned. "If it be so I will hop on my trusty speed and vanquish thine enemies!"

"Sarah sad." Ludo rumbled.

"Come on Sarah, out with it. Won't do ya no goods keepin' it in like that." Hoggle told her.

And just like that, Sarah broke.

"I, I did something bad." She said as tears started pouring down her cheeks.

"What'd ya do?"

"I have this new roommate, and we get along pretty well. And today some old friends of hers that mean a lot to her called and made her so happy. She showed me some pictures of them. But while I was looking through the rest I found some pictures of this… this man, for lack of a better word and it kind of scared me. But when I asked her about it, she got mad and stormed off."

The three in the mirrors were silent for a moment. Finally Hoggle said, "Sounds like ya didn't do nothin' wrong to me."

"Yes I did. It would be like if she overheard me talking to you guys and pressed me about telling her."

Hoggle sighed. "I'm nots sure whats I should tells ya then."

"What should I do?" Sarah lamented, "I feel horrible about asking her about that. It was clearly a touchy subject."

"Aw, come on Sarah, ya didn't means nothin' by it."

"Then why do I feel so bad?"

"Sarah sad?"

"My lady, if thou feelest thou hath made a blunder, then mend the bridge posthaste."

"Right, I will when she gets back. It was so nice to talk to you guys again. I miss you."

"Didn't you says 'at you was gonna trys and makes your roommate leaves so's we coulds visits more often?"

"I thought I would at first, but she's really not so bad. I think you would actually like her Hoggle."

"Doth that meaneth thou wilst forget us my lady?"

"Never Sir Didymus. You guys will always be my closest friends."

"Sarah friend?"

"Yes Ludo, I'll always be your friend. I have to go now, she could be back at any moment. Goodbye guys."

"Bye Sarah."

When they were gone, Sarah went back to her bed to try and mull over what she would say to Lydia. No sooner had she settled in comfortably, Lydia came through the door. She still looked a little morose, but not as angry as she'd been before. That had to be a good sign, right?

But Lydia surprised Sarah when she apologized first. But Sarah knew not to take it too personally. After all, someone's deepest fears was a very sensitive subject. She hadn't even let go of her deepest fear; that the man who took Toby once would swoop in and take him again while Sarah wasn't there to protect the infant. Irrational but her heart just wouldn't listen. So it had become a nightly ritual while she was at college, just before she slipped into dreamland, to whisper the words that had won her brother back. And as she and Lydia settled down for the night, she did just that.

"You have no power over me."

* * *

September had come and gone, it was now October and nearing one of the more dangerous holidays of the year.

"So, how are rehearsals going?" Lydia asked one day as they were walking out of their shared class.

"Good, I still can't believe I actually got the part of Beatrice." Sarah replied.

"I saw how hard you practice, it doesn't surprise me." Lydia told her.

"Thanks, hey do you wanna join me at rehearsals tonight? It might give you an idea for a club to join next year."

"Me act? I don't think so."

"Did I mention it's a phenomenal location for portrait taking? And there's a rumor it's haunted?"

"What time is rehearsal again?"

Sarah laughed. "Six-thirty, we have plenty of time."

* * *

Lydia had to admit, the auditorium was impressive. The stage was beautifully made, and the orchestra had a pit underneath it so they could play without taking up space. She sat and watched the other players practice their lines and perform scenes together. And suddenly she saw why some people wanted to and did become actors. Those who were really good, like Sarah, stepped onto the stage and left themselves behind. They were no longer who they had been born, instead they were whoever they were supposed to be. When Sarah stepped on stage she wasn't Sarah Williams, she truly was Beatrice. And for people like Lydia, who had the chance to watch this, she realized that such talent and confidence in one's performance made others believe they could do the same. Lydia would still rather stick to photography, but she now understood the appeal of acting.

In fact, the more she watched Sarah perform, the more an idea took root in her head. Silently, Lydia raised her camera and started snapping away, glad she'd left her Polaroid back home.

"Hey," a voice broke through the trance she got in whenever she started taking pictures. Lydia looked up to see a relatively young man in his mid-twenties smiling down at her. "I thought photography wasn't allowed in here."

Lydia raised her brow at the sandy-haired, brown-eyed boy. "That's only when they're in costume which as you can see" she gestured towards the stage. "they're not."

The young man laughed. "Good point. So, are you one of the actors? Or their publicist?"

Lydia gave a little half-smile. "Neither, I'm friends with one of the actors here and they invited me along."

"Which one?"

"Beatrice."

"You mean Sarah Williams is your friend?"

"We're more roommates than friends, but yes."

"Lucky, no one's been able to get close to her since the day she came through those doors. And a lot of people have tried. Myself included."

"She's not that hard to get close to." Lydia replied, feeling the need to defend the brunette.

"Maybe not for you, but last year, it was all business when she came in. in fact, unless she had lines with someone the only person she'd actually talk to was the director. You must be pretty special to get her to talk to you, much less invite you to one of her favorite things."

"I suppose."

"What's your name?"

"Lydia Deetz. And you?"

"I'm Gilbert Cory, call me Gil."

For a few minutes they watched Sarah perform without speaking a line. Staying in the background and watching Hero and Claudio interact, her mannerisms still keeping in character.

"She's really good, isn't she?" Lydia heard Gil say.

"Yeah," she agreed. "Sarah's really talented."

"It runs in the family you know."

"What do you mean?"

"She's the daughter of the famous Broadway actress Linda Williams."

"She is?" Lydia never knew that.

"Yeah, but you'd never know. Sarah doesn't like to throw her mom's name around in order to impress and buy out parts she wants."

"I can't imagine she would. She doesn't seem like the type. So, I've yet to see you onstage. Are you part of the set crew or something?"

Gil laughed again. "Or something. I'm the understudy for Benedick. Which means I have to be here without getting onstage unless Richard can't come in. but he's really serious about this, and it's understandable since it's his last play and all."

"He a senior?"

"Yeah, and he's my older brother."

"Ouch."

"It's alright, there's always the musical in the spring. Rich ain't much of a singer if you know what I mean."

"Tone deaf?"

"Completely," They shared a small laugh. "You're kinda cute, would you maybe wanna grab some dinner sometime?"

"A free dinner on you? Sure, why not."

"Cool, I'll see you around then." Gil said as the rehearsal ended and everyone started grabbing their stuff.

"See you." Lydia smiled to herself. She had a date, it felt kind of nice to be noticed that way. She frowned, she wouldn't be able to do this soon. Once her birthday came, all hell was going to break loose.

"Hey," Sarah said coming to join her. "Why the long face? I saw you hanging out with Gilbert Cory. He's one of the most sought after boys in my year."

"He asked me out."

Sarah cocked a brow. "I don't see what the problem is. Do you not like him or something?"

"I was just thinking about something."

"What's that?"

"How old are you?"

"I'm gonna be twenty in a few weeks. Why?"

"What was it like when you turned eighteen?"

"Honesty?" Lydia nodded. "It was kind of scary. Suddenly I was this great big responsible adult who was capable of all these decisions and I had to know for sure what I was going to do with my life. But I was really lucky. My folks said that while at college I could take it slightly easier than most people and that as long as I had a concrete idea of what profession I wanted to go into they wouldn't put any pressure on me." Sarah said as they exited the building and started the trek across campus.

"And were you capable of handling boys hitting on you?"

"To be honest, only one person has ever hit on me. And I wouldn't exactly call him a boy."

"Did you go out with him?"

"He was a lot older than I was at the time, and I was still a little naïve. I still thought everything would be like a Disney fairy tale, my love life included. He offered me something that I didn't understand at the time. And to be honest I still don't understand it now."

"Did you try talking to him about it?"

"We were both stubborn, selfish people. We said some things we probably shouldn't have. I in essence told him I didn't want him in my life and so he left. And I never saw him again."

"Do you regret it?"

"I'm not sure, I haven't really thought about it until now." Lies, but Lydia didn't need to know that. "What's brought all of this on?"

"I'm turning eighteen in a few weeks and someone I know said I'm going to have to make some very important decisions, and deal with things I really don't want to deal with."

"I know the feeling. But hey, why worry about the future, let's have some fun in the now. I just got invited to a Halloween party by one of the actors, normally I'd stay in and work on my lines, but I'm thinking of doing something a little different this year. You wanna come with?"

"Maybe…"

"Come on, it'll be fun."

"Alright, I'll go."

"Great, but we'll need costumes."

* * *

The day of the party arrived and the girls spent the afternoon getting ready, promising each other they wouldn't look at the other's outfit until everything was finished. At last it was time.

"How do I look?" Sarah asked. She was wearing a black shirt and corset paired with a multilayered black tulle skirt that came down to her knees. Thigh high leather stiletto boots adorned her feet and black fingerless gloves were her accessories. Her hair was loose and disheveled, her makeup dark and sweeping. And a small clear orb-like bauble hung on a long chain that she wore around her neck. A black cape completed the look.

"Impressive, what are you?"

"I'm a Fae. Particularly a queen of the Unseelie court."

"Ah, how do I look?"

"Amazing,"

"Thanks, I'm the bride of Dracula."

"I especially love the color. Where did you find a dress like this?"

"It was a gift, a really horrendous and unwanted gift. At least until I got my scissors and thread to it." And it was the truth. Not that whole truth mind you, but she wasn't lying.

"Nice, are we ready to go?"

"I think we're as ready as we'll ever be."

"Great! Ready to stir up some trouble blushing bride to be?"

"More than ready your majesty."

They laughed and headed out the door, unknowing of what the night held in store for them.

* * *

Yes! we'll finally be able to get to the good stuff. I'm so excited! so tell me what you thought; like it, great! didn't, tell me what I can do to improve please


	5. All Hallow's Eve

Finally we're getting to the good stuff. And I'm warning you all now that I took a little liberty with our characters. In this story Sarah's birthday is October 17th and Lydia's is November first, just so you are all aware ahead of time. Also a quick note about Lydia's personality, this is the result I imagine from long term exposure to the Maitlands. She still likes the creepy goth stuff, but her personality is more warm and inviting. now that that's out of the way... On with the show!

Disclaimer: I own neither Labyrinth nor Beetlejuice

* * *

They took Sarah's car to the party location. It was another stately house, not quite a mansion, but the suburban upper-middle class equivalent. It was nearing dark when they pulled into the driveway, and the party was already in full swing. People in all kinds of costumes were everywhere, the stench of alcohol and drugs permeating the atmosphere.

"I think I'm going to park in the street." Sarah said. "What do you think?"

"I think that's the best idea."

They backed out and found a spot a few feet away. Getting out of the car, they walked back to the house, holding one hand to the side of their noses the whole way. They entered the house, and all the lights had been dimmed. There was spooky music coming from all corners of the house, and people were laughing and dancing to the beat.

"So, what do you want to do first?" Sarah asked. "Get a drink?"

"I think I'll stick with water, I'm pretty sure I want to remember the night." Lydia quipped.

Sarah smiled. "Two waters it is then."

Hours later, the party was in full swing, at least another hundred guests having arrived ready and raring to revel. The level of the music had been turned up so loud that one could feel the thumping of the beats reverberating through the floor. Sarah and Lydia had mostly stayed to the wall until this point, occasionally getting out on the makeshift dance floor when a decent song came on. They had been approached by no less than six guys that night, and all had been rebuffed.

"Hey!" Sarah shouted over the deafening noise. "I'm going to get some air, you coming?"

"Nah, I'll stay here for a minute!" Lydia shouted back.

Sarah shrugged and went wandering off. Lydia found a chair that had been pushed aside and sat down, deciding to people watch until her friend returned. And if you didn't count the costumes, this party was pretty much every author's description of a house party in every romance novel ever written. People were drinking, smoking, doing all kinds of illegal activity. And of course, there were those who were either there with a significant other, or looking for a quick hookup. Lydia watched at least for couples try to inconspicuously climb the stairs without detaching their faces. One eventually gave up and just stayed where they had fallen, another obstacle for the other groping teenagers and young adults to overcome.

"Hey, didn't expect to see you here." Came a shout. Lydia looked over to see Gil dressed in a flowing shirt and vest, loose breeches and buckled shoes.

"I tagged along with Sarah. What are you doing here?"

"This is my house." Gil replied.

"And where are your parents?"

"Back in Boston. This is our country house."

"You're so rich you have a country house in the same state?"

"My dad struck it rich in the granite industry. What can I say?"

"Nice,"

"I'm really glad to see you again you know."

"Listen, I'm sorry it didn't work out." They had gone on that first date and a couple more before the party. But whatever spark they'd been looking for just wasn't with each other, so they'd decided to remain friends.

"Hey it's no big deal. I'd rather have taken the chance and found nothing than spent a lifetime regretting and wondering what might have been."

"Very poetic."

"Thanks. Now on another note, you don't seem all that impressed with the fact of me having two homes."

Lydia shrugged. "My dad was a hotshot real estate agent back in New York before he had a panic attack and we had to move. I'm more than used to having two houses at one's disposal."

"Really, sounds like a stressful job." I guess it was, he'd done it for about twenty years when we moved. But I think it was also something else."

"Really? What?"

Lydia was about to say that she'd rather not talk about it when she saw something. Sarah looked like she was in trouble, being waylaid by a guy that was drunk or stoned if they were lucky and drunk/stoned and _volatile_ if they weren't.

"Oh no." she heard Gil say from behind her. She whirled on him.

"A friend of yours?"

"No worse, it's Richard."

"Your brother?"

"Yeah, I knew he had a thing for Sarah, but I figured he'd have taken the hint by now that she doesn't want anything to do with him."

"Looks like he might not care if she likes him or not. I think he might be the type that enjoys the chase. And if that is the case it means this is more about bruised ego than hurt feelings."

"As much as I hate to admit it I think you're right. We should do something."

Lydia started forward when a rattling came from the French doors on the other side of the room. Some sort of bird was tapping on the glass trying to get in. Sarah stopped struggling against Richard for a second. Her eyes grew wide, her breath grew shallow, the color drained from her face.

"No," she whispered.

All at once the doors slammed open and the shadow of a figure appeared on the floor. In strode a man dressed very similar to Sarah, with golden fly-away hair and piercing blue eyes, the pupil of one larger than the other, making them appear heterochromatic. Leisurely he strode towards Sarah, his eyes never leaving her. Everyone else in the room went slack jawed and silent. The man removed Richard's hand from Sarah's arm.

"I believe the lady has declined your offer of escort," he said with a cut-glass English accent. "you should turn tail while you still have your dignity, and bones intact."

Stunned and more than likely off his rocker. Richard backed away, self-preservation instincts telling him there was always tomorrow. The man then turned his full attention back to Sarah; sliding down the arm he held in his grasp and raising the hand to his lips, bestowing a soft kiss to the appendage. Sarah started to tremble, but not in fright, in fury.

"So nice to see you again Precious." He purred. "After all these years I might have thought you'd have forgotten about me."

"What are you doing here?" Sarah hissed.

"I could ask the same of you Precious, but to answer your question; you are here, therefore here is where I must be too."

"Why?"

He smirked. "I am nothing if not your slave Sarah."

"You shouldn't have come. I thought you _couldn't_ come." Her voice shook with emotion. Precisely what that emotion _was_ was anyone's guess.

"Were it any other night Precious, you would be correct. However, it is Samhain tonight is it not. For one night only, all rules are forgotten, and the mist between the veils are at their thinnest." He gave her a wolfish grin and licked his lips predatorily. "Which means, this night. You are _mine_."

The echo of a slap sounded across the room. The man's stayed turned to the side, his cheek bearing the red mark of Sarah's rage.

"You bastard!" she spat. "How dare you say such a thing! I am _not_ _yours_!" she shook out of his grasp. "You have no power over-"

The man had silenced her by placing a finger to her lips. "I may not have power over _you_, my dear. But if only for tonight I have power _here_. And I intend to use it."

Sarah broke away from him and started running as the crowd, in some sort of trance, tried to impede her escape.

"Lydia!" the brunette cried as she rushed to her, grabbing her arm and dragging her along. They raced out the front door and into the night, leaving behind Sarah's car in the process. They fled into the woods, running and dodging branches and roots along the way. At last they came to a small clearing where they stopped to catch their breath.

"Sarah what's-"

"Shh!" Sarah whispered, the grabbed Lydia and pushed them back against a tree, eyes locked on the sky. Overhead a dark shape flew through the air, circling overhead. Sarah stayed perfectly still, following the form of a bird. Lydia peered and saw it was nothing more than a barn owl searching for its dinner. Sarah didn't move until the bird was out of sight. She grabbed Lydia again. "run." She said as they took off again through the trees.

Eventually they came to a stop in a less open clearing that was covered by the canopies of the trees. Sarah breathed a sigh a relief. "We're safe now." She turned to see Lydia standing with her hands on her hips. "What?"

"Sarah, what was all _that_ about?"

"What do you mean?"

"That man, that conversation. The whole 'you have no power over me' thing? Is there something I need to know about you?"

Sarah looked at the ground for a moment or two before once more meeting Lydia's gaze. "Remember that talk we had about nightmares?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, that was mine."

"What do you mean?"

"When I was fifteen I came into contact with him. He's an enemy, you can't trust him. Unfortunately I've only faced him once, so I have no idea what the full extent of his powers are, especially on a night like tonight."

"What powers? What are you talking about?"

"I'll explain when the night's over and we're back at the dorm."

"So why didn't we take your car back?"

"My first instinct was to run, but knowing him he probably tampered with it somehow. He wants revenge because I bested him at his own game, and because I turned several minions of his against him."

"The ones you were talking to a few weeks ago?"

"What?"

"I came back from my outing and the door was open. I peeked inside and saw you talking to people through the mirrors on the vanity."

"You mean you could _see_ them?"

"Of course I could, why?"

"Freshman year my roommate caught me talking to them but she couldn't see them. She thought I was crazy and requested to transfer to another dorm."

"I guess the same rule applies to fairy tale creatures too."

"What rule?"

"The living tend to ignore the strange and unusual. I myself am strange and unusual."

"Great, I'm not sure whether to be happy you know or mad that you spied on me."

"If it makes you feel any better, I've seen more grotesque things than your friends."

"You think they're grotesque?"

"No, but they're not bad looking compared to some of the other stuff I've seen."

"Very comforting a thought."

"Right, well we still have school tomorrow, we better get back."

"Thanks for reminding me. I think I'm gonna skip tomorrow."

"You wanna get notes from one of the bimbos?"

"I was gonna have you record the lecture for me and take notes from that."

"Maybe if I sit in the back and set everything up he won't notice when I fall asleep."

"Right,"

It was still dark when they arrived back at the dorm building. They had just reached the front door when a clock chimed from across the campus.

"Damn!" Lydia swore as she looked at her watch.

"What?" Sarah asked.

"I'll tell you inside."

They reached their room in silence. After entering they locked the door behind them and drew the curtains shut.

"So what's so special about the clock chiming?" Sarah asked as she sat on her bed.

"Remember when I told you I had a lot of decisions I'd have to make when I turned eighteen?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I was originally supposed to be born on Halloween. My mom went into five hours of labor at seven p.m. I was born on midnight of November first."

"Then that means.."

"Yeah, it's officially my eighteenth birthday. And you remember my nightmare?"

"The one you drew? Yeah."

"Well as of five minutes ago, he's coming for me."

All at once thunder boomed and lightning lit up the sky from behind the curtain. But there was no sound of rain.

"He? You mean, that thing is real?"

"He's as real as the nightmare who just accosted you back at the party, only undead, and probably a lot more powerful. And worst of all, he's not afraid to use it."

"Was that what you were talking to that lady about the other day?"

"You saw me with a lady?"

"Gray lady, in a business suit. Smoking a cigarette. Ring any bells?"

"You saw juno?"

"For a brief moment when I glanced out the window. But I thought you just ran into a teacher I hadn't met before."

"Juno's a ghost who works for the bureaucracy of the dead. She's a caseworker for new arrivals."

"Oh,"

"Yeah, she was warning me about… _Him_."

"Is he really that dangerous?"

"I can't say for certain, but he's more powerful than anything I've ever seen. Your nightmare included."

"I'm not sure this thing is more powerful than J- the Goblin King, but I'll leave it alone for right now."

"You're nightmare is the King of the Goblins?" Lydia said, a brow quirked in sarcastic disbelief.

"I know his name, but on a night like this saying it might bring him right to us. Though I'm sure he already knows we're here."

"How?"

"Long story I'd rather not get into at the moment. How dangerous is this nightmare of yours?"

"Depends on how much power he's able to access and use on the mortal plane. I know if you say his names three times you can summon him, and he seems to be able to tap into all his power, or at least all the power I've seen him use before. I'm not sure what the extent of his powers are when lurking in limbo."

"What is his name?"

Rather than respond verbally Lydia grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled something on it before balling it up and tossing it at the brunette.

Sarah uncrumpled the ball and read the single word on it. "Beetlej-"

"Don't say it!" Lydia snapped. "If we say his name we give him power to affect us."

"Remind me that one day we have to sit down and have a serious talk about why these things are happening to us and how we got acquainted with this stuff in the first place."

"Duly noted."

"We need to do more research about this." Sarah said while chewing on her thumb. "I propose tomorrow we spend the day holed up in the library and looking through every musty tome for any mention."

"Agreed. I mean, this town went through vicious witch trials, there has to be some mention of dealing with the undead. Right?"

"Right, but we better turn in before we become too exhausted to do any useful work."

"Yeah, goodnight." Lydia flopped down on the bed and closed her eyes. Not a moment later she heard Sarah gasp.

"Lydia?" she said apprehensively.

"What Sarah?"

"The… the mirror." Was all she got in response. Lydia sat up and turned towards the vanity. What she saw there would have made her faint had she been anyone else.

There on the middle mirror written in a finger paint scrawl in what looked like blood, were three words and three words only.

_Miss me babes?_

* * *

Yay! we finally see Jareth, and Beej gets to make his first appearance in the world of the living. mostly by bugging the crap out of Sarah and Lydia who pretend to ignore him. Also, anyone who can tell me where Gil's brother comes from gets to read the next chapter before it's posted. let the reviewing commence. also, to make it easier on myself please leave an email I can send the chapter to as I do use Word to write my stories.


	6. Of Annoyances and Yuletide Trips

it's been a long day. but I was able to knock this out. today's chapter will explain the rating. mostly because of BJ being BJ. anyways I finally got Labyrinth on dvd to watch anytime I please. I'm so happy I could pass out! so yeah, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own neither Beetlejuice nor Labyrinth

* * *

Sarah Williams was someone who considered herself to be quite patient, especially after running the Labyrinth. She kept her cool in dealing with everyday grievances; little kids, a homework eating dog, annoying chores, and of course, being a teenager no one understood. Sure, she did have some immediate triggers, namely _one_ annoying Fae king that would remain unnamed. However, patience is a transient thing, and there is only so much a person can take before they snap.

"Arrrgh, enough!" she snapped, causing the textbooks that had been whirling about the room -the occasional one brushing the back of her head- to drop. Sarah smiled to herself, she'd gotten the drop on, to quote Lydia, the so-called "ghost with the most". But it wasn't even the worst. Their day in the library had turned up nothing about communicating with the spirit world. Then again, they hadn't been able to find much because every time they found what looked like a promising book, it flew off the shelf and on to the top of a bookcase on the other side of the building.

From there it only continued to get more annoying. The water in their shower would turn red, assignments would go missing, furniture would be moved about the room, disturbing messages would be written on the mirrors wherever they were, the list went on and on. At first they had tried ignoring it; that had been in the beginning of November. It was now coming up on Christmas break and Sarah's nerves were beginning to get a little frazzled.

Sighing she turned back to her book lying flat on her side of the vanity. It was now entirely in Spanish.

"God dammit!" Sarah swore, thumping a fist on the table and running a hand through her hair exasperatedly. Internally admitting defeat for the moment she braced an elbow on the flat surface before her and rested her head in her hand.

"Hey," came Lydia walking through the door.

"Hi," Sarah said without turning around.

"Rough day?" Lydia asked while depositing her bag on her bed.

"More like a rough month. Tell me something."

"What?"

"Has your little friend always so annoying?"

"Well, he once made me play charades in an effort to say his name. And then when I needed help from him he sat on a miniature tombstone and filed his greasy fingernails like he had all the time in the world. So yes, he's always been this annoying. But tell me, what has he been doing today?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "For the past hour he's been spinning my books around the room and glancing the spine of one across the back of my neck every so often so I lose my focus. And now he's translated my book into Spanish. I took French."

Lydia gave a mirthless chuckle. "He's persistent."

Sarah scoffed. "I'll say. But at least we get a whole month away from school, and him. The end of the semester can't come soon enough."

"You mean _you'll_ get a whole month away from him. With my luck he'll probably follow me home for the holidays. That is if I even decide to go home."

"Why wouldn't you?"

"Though it has improved over the years my relationship with my parents still isn't the greatest. Plus Delia's throwing some huge soiree. The house will be filled with people I don't know, and with my luck there will be a bunch of young men Delia will try to set me up with."

"Wouldn't that get you out of your situation?"

"With our resident eavesdropper around? They'll be out of the picture before I've said two words to them. And plus, they'll be Delia's type of guys, so I won't be interested in any of them."

"I know the feeling. All throughout high school my step mother Karen was pushing for me to date, but I just didn't see the appeal. I still don't if it's any consolation." The metaphorical light bulb appeared over Sarah's head. "Hey, why don't you come home with me? It'll douse both our step mothers' ideas for getting us men."

"And what about you-know-who?"

"What if we said his name, but not three times? Could we trap him here for the time being?"

"I'm not sure."

"Well it's worth a shot isn't it?"

"I guess."

Sarah stared at the younger girl for a moment. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"He's _your_ problem. I do believe you have the honor of trying to fix it."

Lydia sighed. "Right, scoot over." She took a seat beside Sarah at the vanity and stared at the mirror. Taking a deep breath, she started. "Beetlejuice."

The glass in the mirror started to fog over. The visage of someone other than Lydia started to appear.

"Beetlejuice."

The image solidified from a shadow into a concrete tangible image of a man. And in Sarah's opinion, he really did look like he'd just crawled out from under six feet of earth.

"That's be-mph!" Lydia's hand cut her off.

"Pity, one more b-word and the juice could shake loose." He turned his gaze to Sarah. "How's it goin' sweet cheeks?"

Sarah visibly recoiled. "Sweet cheeks? Eww." She stuck out her tongue in disgust.

Beetlejuice returned his stare to Lydia. "'bout time you called. Was wonderin' if ya'd forgotten all about our little deal by now Babes. But then I remembered, yer still wearin' my ring ain't 'cha?"

Sarah looked at Lydia. "What does he mean?"

Beetlejuice leered at the two of them. "She knows exactly what I mean. Go on Babes, show yer little friend what 'cha got hidin' under that dress."

"You pervert." Was Lydia's half-hearted reply.

"Lydia? What's he talking about?"

Lydia sighed and put a hand to her throat. From under the neckline of her dress she pulled out a long chain on which hung a man's wedding band.

"What is this from?"

Beetlejuice gave a theatrical gasp. "Babes! Ya mean ya haven't told her about that day?"

"What day is he talking about?" Sarah pushed.

"I mean it was probably the most important day in yer life, I've been waitin' all this time ta give ya yer gifts."

"Lydia what's going on?"

"The nightmare that wasn't a dream."

"What?"

Beetlejuice chuckled. "She means our weddin' day kid."

"Wedding day?"

"Well, more like our anniversary now huh Babes?"

"You're _married_!?"

"No, no I'm not. But it's a situation he wants to rectify as soon as possible."

"No kiddin' so how's about you an I get it done and over with huh?"

Lydia smirked at him. "Over my dead body."

"That can be arranged darlin'." He drawled.

"It could, but then you'd lose your shot at getting out."

"Plenty of other young, desperate girls lookin' fer love in the wrong places."

"And you really think they'll buy into necrophilia?"

"Ain't necrophilia if ya ain't got a body Babes. And mine's long gone."

"Regardless, how are you supposed to get to them if you're stuck here in the mirror?"

Beetlejuice chuckled. "Ya really think a little mirror'll hold me for long?"

"Considering you're stuck in limbo? Yeah I do."

"I ain't stuck Babes." He said indignantly.

"Oh yeah?" Lydia challenged, leaning closer. "Prove it."

"How?"

"Aren't you Mr. 'ghost with the most'? You figure it out."

"You turned out to be a real wiseass kid."

"Huh, you must have rubbed off on me."

"Trust me Babes, when I rub off on ya, you'll know."

"I think you mean if."

"That implies there's hope."

"I'm not giving you an answer yet juice. Sarah, can you get that spare blanket from my closet?"

"Sure thing." Sarah went and retrieved the heavy black comforter. "Why do we need it?"

"I'm just giving our little peeping tom here a better view." Lydia replied as she draped it over the mirror Beetlejuice was trapped in, ignoring his protests all the way.

"Aw come on! It's not like I haven't seen everything already!" came his muted voice from behind the fabric.

"Keep digging yourself deeper." Lydia replied. "We'll see you next year."

"He saw us change?"

"And shower and bathe and all kinds of other things."

"That's gross and creepy."

"Like it's any worse than your little avian friend who watches you sleep at night?"

"And you wondered why I didn't like sleeping next to windows."

"When we get back, we really need to have a serious talk about this." Lydia said while pulling out an overnight bag.

"That's my line."

"Then what should mine be?"

"I can't think of one for a girl with an undead stalker."

"Men, you just can't live with them,"

"And when you try to live without them they come back to haunt you."

The girls shared a laugh.

* * *

"Well, are you ready?" Sarah asked as they finished loading everything into the trunk and backseat of her car early one winter morning.

"I guess." Lydia replied as they got in and started the drive.

"Don't worry, I'm sure there will be plenty of clothes you can borrow or buy if you run out of clean ones while you're there."

"So where exactly are we headed, and how long is it going to take."

"Six hours to NYC and then another hour and a half to get to my hometown."

"You're from New York?"

"Yeah, I never told you that?"

"Guess not. I'm from New York too."

"Really? Whereabouts?"

"Manhattan, my dad was a shark in the real estate industry. But about six years ago he had a heart attack and we had to move."

"Ah, ever seen any shows on Broadway?"

"A couple, I don't know if I ever saw any with your mom in them though."

"You know who my mom is?"

"Gil told me that night I came to rehearsal with you. But I was a little distracted with, that other issue at the time to give it much thought."

"I understand."

"Do you see your mom often?"

"Not since she left when I was thirteen."

"Left?"

"She loved the stage more than her family. At least that's what I thought at the time. The truth of the matter is that it was what she felt called to do, and my dad just couldn't deal with the commitment it took from her. And though I hated her, I couldn't stand the thought of anyone taking her place. I also admired her for going after her dreams and I wanted to be just like her. She'd send me props and costumes from her productions, and I used to spend hours up in the attic playing dress up with them."

"Sounds rough."

"You call your mom Delia. What's wrong with her?"

"Same kind of situation I suppose. When I was thirteen my mom left and I haven't seen her since. She could be dead for all I know."

"oh, I'm sorry."

"I don't know why she left, and I've never asked. Maybe one day I will but for now, the wound is still a little raw, you know?"

"I know, for the two years of my father's marriage to Karen I resented her and everything she stood for. It took a lot for me to realize she was only trying to help be a mother figure for me."

"And would that have anything to do with that man you slapped at the Halloween party?"

"Maybe, but we'll save _that_ story for later."

"Right," there was silence. "Wanna put on the radio?"

"I don't' care, go for it."

Lydia punched the knob and started searching. Nothing good seemed to be on though.

"That figures." Lydia sighed as she turned the radio off.

"What does?"

"All those stations to choose from and nothing good on any one of them."

Sarah laughed. "I know. You still sound a little tired, why don't you go back to sleep. I'll wake you if I need you."

Lydia yawned. "I don't know how you can be so full of energy this early in the morning." She said as she reclined the seat back.

"I've made this kind of a trip for years. I'm used to getting up early departure day."

"Ah, wake me when we get there." Lydia said as she dozed.

"Sure thing." Was the last thing the Goth heard before drifting off completely.

* * *

"-dia? Lydia? Are you awake?" a voice nudged into her peaceful subconscious.

Lydia groaned. "What is it?"

"We're here."

"Already?"

"Well not quite, we're about ten minutes away. But I thought you might enjoy the scenery."

They were driving down a fir lined road, the branches of said trees heavy with snow. Within minutes they had entered a quiet town and were driving along the stereotypical main street. Sarah pulled past all the shops and restaurants and into the far part of the lot. Eventually they pulled into the driveway of an old Victorian home, all aglow with Christmas lights.

"What time is it?" Lydia asked.

"About half past one." Sarah replied. "We're just in time for a late lunch."

"Great, I'm starving."

"I figured you would be. Luckily Karen's a great cook. One of the reasons I always look forward to coming home for the holidays is to gain five pound from all the sweets and meats I get here."

"And how do you lose it all?"

"Playing with a hyperactive little five year old tends to burn off a lot of the calories before I go back to school."

"Five year old? You didn't mention anything about a five year old."

"My half-brother toby. Don't be worried, he'll love you." Sarah said pulling Lydia out of the car.

"It's not that I'm worried about."

* * *

I'm getting to the real meat of the story now. it won't be much longer before the much anticipated meeting comes! also my contest from the last chapter still stands, but only until I finish with the character. please see the end of chapter notes from chapter 5 for rules. good luck and happy reviewing!


	7. Of Castles and Christmas time

Hi everyone! I'm back from the dead and to make up for my absence a slightly longer chapter. to explain, writing is a little difficult for me sometimes because I only have a few basic ideas fully worked out in my head that usually don't come until later in the story. so most of the chapters are usually stream-of-conscious where I just write down whatever pops into my head and work it into the story. the stream-of-conscious part here is the whole toy store bit as I was at a loss as to how to fill up the space and then I realized I wanted both Lydia and Toby to have a little bit of a relationship, and for Toby to remember some of his time in the Goblin Kingdom during Sarah's journey.

one last thing, the writing program I use is NOT perfect and I am not one to go back and edit meticulously. I give it a once over and fix any glaringly obvious mistakes. so any you catch are there to stay for the time being.

Disclaimer: I own neither Labyrinth nor Beetlejuice

* * *

"If it's not my brother liking you you're worried about, then what is it?" Sarah asked as she tugged Lydia up the drive.

"I don't exactly get along well with kids." Lydia replied.

"I told you not to worry, he's easily enough contented. Just read him a story and he'll like you just like that. The ones I'd be worried about are my parents."

"Why?"

"Karen is also a little concerned about appearances, though not nearly as much as she was when she first married my dad. But she expects a certain sense of decorum. And black at Christmas time is something she isn't going to like."

"I don't really wear any other kind of colors. You know that."

"She won't mind if it's a pair of black pants or a black skirt. But wearing a full black ensemble is something else entirely."

"Well, in case you haven't already noticed. I own nothing but black clothing."

"I know, and that's why I told you not to pack a lot. We're gonna drop off our bags and take Toby shopping."

"Why are we taking your brother with us?"

"It'll give us a cover and you some time to get used to him before were expected to celebrate and he gets a little wild.

"Wild?"

Sarah shrugged. "Five pounds of Christmas candy plus hot chocolate and eggnog will do that to a kid."

"Then why do you do it?"

"He crashes in time for Santa."

"Ah," Lydia still looked uncomfortable with the idea.

"Trust me, you guys'll get along great."

Lydia raised a brow. "And how do you know that?"

Sarah smiled. "Because you get along with me. If I like you, Toby likes you. It's really that simple."

"Really?" Lydia was skeptical. What kind of kid liked someone just because their sibling did?

"Yep."

"Okay, but what if you-know-who shows up?"

"Thought we took care of him before we left."

"Not _Him_, the other one."

"Oh trust me, what happened back in October won't happen now."

"Why?"

"He doesn't have the power to be here. Halloween was a special exception; remember what Proctor told us?"

"The long thought belief that spirits and other ethereal beings have the power to cross through the veil to our world on special nights?"

"And what was the primary night?"

"Samhain. Another word for All Hallows Eve or…" Lydia trailed off. "Oh,"

"Yep. We're perfectly safe for right now. Unless you wish someone away that is."

"What?"

Sarah bit her tongue. They were here to get away from their paranormal problems. "Never mind, I'll explain later."

"You keep saying that."

"So do you."

"Touché, Miss Williams."

"Merci, Miss Deetz." Sarah opened the door. "Be right back."

"You want me to stay here?"

Sarah shrugged. "If you wanna face my stepmom in full frazzle mode, be my guest. I was trying to save you the trouble but…"

"On second thought, I'll stay here."

The brunette chuckled. "Good idea. Be right back."

Five minutes later, Sarah came back sans suitcases with a little boy tagging along behind her. He had curly golden hair and expressive blue eyes, and wore a red and white striped shirt with a small pair of dark blue jeans. Sarah opened the door behind her seat and ushered him in.

Lydia turned her head to look at him, he stared right back.

"Hi!" the boy said, giving a toothy grin. "I'm Toby!"

"I've heard about you. You're what, six now?"

Toby nodded enthusiastically. "Yep, but I'm gonna be seven soon!"

"When?"

"Um..."

"September kiddo. You got a long way to go till birthday time."

Toby pouted, then turned back to Lydia. "Who are you?"

"My name's Lydia."

"Li-dee-uh?" he sounded out the name. "Are you friends with Sarah?"

"Yeah, we share a room at school."

"Sarah's never brought a friend home from school before."

"Toby! You remember Alicia and Mary don't you?" Sarah admonished.

"But they left a while ago. I never see them anymore an you never go to play with them neither."

"Alicia and Mary?" Lydia raised a brow.

"Some friends I had in high school. But they got their dream jobs halfway through college. Only stipulation was that they had to move to Europe."

"So you never talk to them anymore?"

"Not really, I was never that close with them anyways."

"Close?"

"They never knew about, y'know." She shot the younger girl a significant look.

"That makes two of us. No one ever knew about my issues too."

The rest of the ride continued in relative silence from the girls, while toby's constant flow of mindless chatter kept the journey into town from being oppressively quiet. When they reached their destination, Toby wanted to drag them off in every direction, but Sarah managed to keep him in line for the most part. She showed Lydia to a small boutique that specialized in being current, but not tacky, graceful, but not gaudy. There Lydia found some tops and dresses to fit her tastes and the expectations of her friend's stepmother. Deep burgundy, amethyst, sapphire, and other jewel-toned silk blouses that could seamlessly fit into her wardrobe; as well as a couple of almost costume styled dresses: elbow-sleeves with long trains along the forearms, a corset style design along the torso, and a full length skirt. Also in tasteful colors without the filigree you would find on costume dresses that looked similar.

"How long have you been going to that store?" Lydia asked as they exited.

"My mom used to find a lot of the costumesque clothes I had as a kid there."

"Costumesque? Now you're just making words up."

"Maybe, but Shakespeare made up hundreds of words and we still use them today." Sarah countered as they walked along the sidewalk.

"Good point, so where are we off to now?"

"I promised Tobes if he was good I'd take him to the toy store."

"Really?"

Sarah leaned in a little as they walked. "I also need to buy someone his p-r-e-s-e-n-t." she said lowly, spelling out the word so the little boy wouldn't know what she was talking about.

"So I get to spend some time babysitting right?"

"Please and thank you."

Lydia sighed. "Alright, how long were you thinking?"

"No more than forty-five minutes at the absolute most. I promise."

"I hope I can handle that."

"He really likes you, I'm sure you'll be fine."

"If you say so." She turned to the little boy. "Come on toby, let's go look at the, let's see if they have any castle play sets or trains. Would you like that?"

"Yeah!" the little boy exclaimed, grabbing Lydia's hand and dragging her through the doors.

Inside there were three floors filled with all kinds of toys and play-sets for boys and girls of all ages. There were even some hand crafted pieces that looked absolutely incredible. Toby obviously knew where he was going as he continued to drag Lydia through the aisles and up the stairs until he found a small corner set in the back of the store. There on a small wooden table lay a magnificent scale-model castle; split right down the middle and attached with hinges on one side. The mat it stood on was a beautifully detailed etching of a gigantic maze. And inside the castle itself lay many small figurines, just the right size for a small child's hands, with grotesque faces, oddly jointed limbs, and different colored faces.

"What are they?" Lydia asked as she picked up a figure to examine it more closely.

"Goblins," Toby replied, picking up a couple more and making them move around the floors.

"Goblins?"

"Yeah, but they forgot the chickens. Goblins love chickens." The small boy told her. "And the castle's not all right either. They don't have the room of stairs. But I suppose it would be pretty confusing to try and put it here, especially when it has to be small enough to fit."

"You've been to this castle before? It really exists?" Lydia had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"I, I don't know." Toby answered. "It's so familiar, but I don't remember being here. I think I dreamed about it once."

"And how did you find it?"

"Once I ran away from mom here and I got lost. I ran an ran until I got so scared I started crying, an when I looked up it was here. I like to come here an play with the castle whenever I come here."

"Toby," Lydia began. "Have you ever shown Sarah this castle?"

"Sarah was there too." Toby mumbled, more to himself than his companion. "Sarah doesn't like stories about goblins. She also doesn't like to see the owl that watches her whenever she comes back. An sometimes she walks right past the goblins at home."

"You have goblins at home?" Lydia questioned.

"Uh-huh. Mommy an Daddy don't see them. An sometimes they play tricks that get Merlin in trouble. But they're my friends. They make me feel better whenever Sarah has to go away."

'_Mental note'_ Lydia thought to herself. _'Ask Sarah about this when we have some time alone'_ she turned her attention back to the boy. "So where is this castle?"

"The Goblin City." Toby replied, not taking his eyes away from what his hands were doing with the figurines.

"And if there's a castle there must be a ruler. Tell me Toby, which one of these is the king of the Goblins?"

"He hasn't come yet."

"What do you mean?"

"Every time I come here there are new goblins to play with. I think he's coming last."

"Oh," Lydia checked her watch; it had been a little over an hour since they'd left Sarah to go present shopping for her brother. "Well, I think it's time we headed back, don't you?"

"Do we have to?" Toby whined, even as he set the figures down and got up off his knees.

"Yeah, isn't it almost dinner time anyways?"

Toby's eyes lit up. "Oh yeah! Mommy's making roast beef tonight!" he grabbed Lydia's hand once more and they took off, eventually finding Sarah at the checkout.

"Hey," Lydia greeted. "How was your scavenger hunt?"

"Fruitless," Sarah sighed dejectedly. "Toby's been really into fairytales so I was hoping I could find a castle or some knights for him to play with. But nope, zip, nada, zilch. They had nothing."

Lydia looked away for a moment, she knew there was something, but Sarah might not be happy with it. What if?

"I know where there's something." She said quietly, almost a whisper in the din of holiday shoppers. Still, Sarah heard her.

"Really? What? No, never mind that. You have to get it for me! Here," Sarah dug in her purse and handed Lydia her wallet. "Go find it again and buy it for me. I'll get Toby settled in the car okay?"

"Um…" was all Lydia could say as this happened. Before she knew it she was left with Sarah's wallet in her hands and a crowd full of holiday shoppers swarming around her. Looking and thankfully catching sight of an unoccupied sales assistant lydia quickly made her way over.

"hi!" the bright and bubbly salesgirl greeted. "what can I help you with today?"

"Um, I found a castle play-set that I'd like to purchase." Lydia told her. The girl looked confused.

"Hm, I thought we were all sold out but okay. Can you show me where you found this so we can ring it up for you?"

"Sure," Lydia carefully retraced her steps to find the hidden corner, and sighed in relief when she found it.

"That's odd," said the salesgirl as she went to inspect the castle. "I've never seen any of these before."

"So you don't know how much it is?"

"I don't think I can sell it for a price since I don't think we even have this product on record."

"So I can't buy it?"

"No, I guess I have to give it to you."

"Give it to me?" Lydia was flabbergasted.

"Yes, very rarely these things happen. But they happen all the same. As long as you don't go spreading the word around about it we'll be fine."

"Oh, thank you. Can I get the figurines wrapped separately?"

"Certainly," the salesgirl grabbed her walkie-talkie. "Attention, can we have any available team members to sector five of the second floor. Repeat, all available members to sector 2-5, over.

Within the span of ten minutes, other team members had packed up the castle and figurines, brought them down to the checkout and wrapping stations, and prepared the gifts for Christmas Eve. They then loaded it into the back of Sarah's trunk and bid them farewell.

"Thanks so much!" Sarah exclaimed as they got in the house, Toby running off to tell his parents all about his exciting outing.

"I wouldn't be thanking me just yet if I were you." Lydia replied.

"Why not? You saved me back there. I can't wait to see the look on Toby's face when he opens it."

"Listen Sarah, there's something I need to tell you about the castle-" Lydia began.

"Sarah," a woman's voice interrupted. "Thank you so much for taking Toby out while I finished preparing everything today." A red-headed woman in a pink lounging set glanced over at Lydia. "This must be your friend." She held out her hand. "Karen Williams dear. And you are?"

Lydia shifted uncomfortably. "Lydia Deetz ma'am."

"Wonderful! I'm so glad Sarah's brought home a friend for the holidays. Usually Sarah's father and I are out at parties hosted by the rest of the partners and Sarah babysits. But we can certainly adjust and call someone else if you two have any plans coming up."

"Nothing in the immediate future Karen." Sarah replied.

"Well, just let me know okay? Now Sarah, I have some things I'd like to discuss with you for a moment." Karen looked at Lydia. "Do you mind if I steal her for a moment?"

Lydia shook her head. "No it's fine."

Karen's "moment" turned out to be the rest of the evening. And until Christmas day, Lydia never had more than a minute to be alone with Sarah. It was as if every one of Sarah's family members had some sort of mechanism in them that told them to intervene whenever Lydia tried to start explaining about the present she'd gotten for Toby.

Eventually Christmas day came and Toby opened Sarah's present last.

He gasped. "Sarah!" he exclaimed. "How did you know I wanted this?"

Sarah, shocked and slightly livid if Lydia was reading her body language right, kept a happy and mischievous smile on her face as she answered her brother's question. "A little birdie told me."

Lydia held out the other package from behind her back. "A castle's no good unless it's got subjects. Merry Christmas kid." She said as she handed the child the bundle and ruffled his hair.

Another gasp left the child's mouth as he tore open the paper. "They're all here! The subjects, the chickens, even the king!"

"King?" the Williams' asked.

"The Goblin King!" Toby exclaimed once more as he picked up the only human looking figure in the set. Wild hair, leather clothing, black gloves; and Sarah would recognize the smug smirk painted on the face any day.

"Lydia," Sarah said calmly, no hint of her inner rage betraying her countenance. "May I speak to you in the other room please?"

The girls excused themselves and Sarah stormed down the hallway, Lydia following close behind. When they got to Robert's office Sarah shut the door and whirled on her roommate.

"How could you?" she shouted, ready to fight. "How could you buy him something like that? You know enough to know that something, _anything_ to do with goblins is not something I want him exposed to! He'll start asking questions, and I don't want to relive that part of my past ever again! And if that was the only thing there why couldn't you have at least _warned_ me?"

Through all of this, Lydia remained calm, composed. "Okay first of all, I didn't _buy_ him that castle. In fact, no one who worked there even knew it existed so they gave it to me, and we gave it to him. Second of all, I've been trying to warn you for the past _two weeks_. But every time I got a moment to try and talk to you about it someone would come and interrupt. It was like they knew what those presents were and didn't want you to know about it. Third of all," Lydia sighed. "I think he knows."

"What?" Sarah looked shocked, confused, and a little afraid.

"How do you think I found the castle in the first place Sarah? Toby dragged me through the store to get to it. I had a weird feeling about it at first and when I asked him about it, it seemed to match the little you've told me about whatever happened back when you were fifteen. And then when I saw you desperate to find the perfect gift for him it just popped into my head. One other thing, Toby says that there are goblins here, that they cheer him up when you go back to school. And,"

"And what?"

"And whenever you come home, Toby says that there's an owl that watches you."

"An owl?"

"That's what he told me and call me crazy, but I don't think the kid's lying. I think your little friend might have a bit more power than you think."

Sarah just stood there, slack jawed and unseeing.

"Sarah? Are you okay?"

"I'm, I'm fine. I just, never expected to hear something like that. And the rest of it, well it's a lot to take in y'know?"

"Do you need something?"

"I just need some time to let this all sink in. tell my folks I'm going for a walk."

"Okay,"

Before they knew it, they were packing up to head back to Salem Sate for the new semester.

"Well, that was a nice break." Lydia said as they got in the car.

"Yeah, it was nice to spend some time with your family, maybe for spring break you'll come to Connecticut with me to meet my family."

"Yeah, but a nice dose of normalcy will be nice after everything that's happened so far."

"Normalcy?" Lydia looked at her. "Have you forgotten we have a poltergeist waiting for us back at the dorm?"

"I never said our normalcy was the same as other people's." Sarah quipped. "Besides, between a poltergeist that's after _you_ and a Fae King after _me_ I know which one I'd rather face."

The girls shared a laugh and headed back on the road; completely, totally, and -for the moment- blissfully unaware of what would come to pass.

* * *

finally! we're getting to the really good stuff. the long anticipated meeting should be coming up within the next few chapters and my off still stands. If anyone can tell me where Gil's brother Richard comes from in the world of literature I will write you a one shot! now please, REVIEW!


	8. Of Messages and Misadventures

Hey everyone! So it looks like I'll be doing weekly updates from now on, at least until things get really hectic. So, this is the longest one yet and I'm proud of myself for it. Also, I am going to address this now before I get the emails, yes there is dialogue in this chapter from the movies because this is the chapter where they discuss their backstories. I had to watch bad fandub clips in order to get everything accurately, the things I do for you guys... Anyways, stuff actually happens in this chapter so yay! Enough of my ranting, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth or Beetlejuice

* * *

As they entered the campus they saw a blanket of white, everything seemed so pretty. And upon entering their room, nothing seemed amiss.

"Hey juice!" Lydia called, dragging her suitcase behind her. "Bored out of your mind while we were gone?"

No answer, it didn't faze Lydia. She went over to her closet and put away her new clothes. Sarah paused in the doorway.

"Doesn't it seem a little quiet to you?" she asked.

Lydia shook her head. "Knowing him it's probably a trick so he can Lech on us undressing some more."

Sarah still hung back, there was an eerie sense of emptiness emanating from the room that had never been there before. Or maybe it had, but Sarah had become so accustomed to the poltergeist's presence that she could feel him missing.

"Lydia, I don't think he's here."

"Well, let's find out." Lydia stood from her bed and went over to the vanity. Taking a deep breath she grasped a corner of the blanket and pulled, like a child ripping off the band aid in the hopes that it will hurt less than drawing it out.

Lydia didn't know what she expected. Maybe a grotesque visage peering back at her? Perhaps a message that looked to be scrawled in blood as had been his modus operandi until now. What she wasn't expecting was… nothing. Absolutely nothing, not even a reflection.

"He's gone?" damn, Lydia detected the note of disappointment in her voice, though she hoped that it had gone unnoticed by her roommate.

"I'm not as worried about that as much as the fact that our mirror now shows no reflection at all." Sarah replied.

Lydia turned back to the vanity. The glass looked as though it had frosted over during their absence, a cold foggy gray taking the place of the reflections that usually gazed back at them. Lydia reached out her hand, fingers brushing against the glass like she expected it to fade away. When instead it hit solid matter, Lydia curled her fingers in and let gravity pull her hand down to rest on the tabletop.

"What do you think this means?" she asked looking over her shoulder.

Sarah pushed off from her leaning stance against the doorframe, fully entering the room, arms crossed over her shoulders. She glanced at Lydia, before returning her vigil to the

"I don't know. But I get the strange feeling this is only the beginning…"

* * *

The last few days before school started once more were relatively peaceful. But between the oddity of what had happened back in New York, and the off feeling surrounding the two girls; there was an underlying current of unease that radiated. The feeling that they were on the precipice of something monumental, and when they took that plunge, nothing would ever be the same.

A sound jolted both girls out of their beds and onto the floor.

"What's going on?" Lydia asked through a yawn. "It's way too early for the alarm clock to be going off."

"I'll go see." Sarah sleepily slurred, rising to her feet and stretching. What she saw when she looked out the window astounded her. She spun on her heels. "Get dressed Lyds."

"Why?"

"Just do it." Sarah ordered as she rushed to pull out some clothes.

Lydia could honestly see why Sarah had wanted to get dressed and go once they got out there. A squadron of police cars. Everywhere they looked, officers in blue, students crowding the sidewalks trying to figure out what was going on.

By the next day however, everyone knew. Sophomore Brigitta Bishoppe had been found hanging in her closet by her roommate on the first day back to school, or what was supposed to be the first day back. Because of the incident they'd had to postpone classes for the day. All the police were allowed to divulge to the public was she'd been killed by asphyxiation, meaning she'd hung herself. The only clue they had to why she'd committed suicide was a cryptic suicide note they'd found clenched between her fingers upon examination of the body.

_By summer's dawn my life was gone_

_Executed though guilty not_

_I tell you then by winter's end_

_Our corpses all shall walk_

* * *

It was eerie. And it was all the discussion that was had in any given class for the first few days following the incident. Lydia and Sarah had felt something odd. There was more to the case then met they eye. But the room had been sealed off until further notice. One night when Lydia was walking home from a class she saw something. A young woman figure skating on the icy pond. Strange, the firemen had deemed the ice to be too thin for anyone to skate on, and yet there she was, dressed all in white. As though in a trance Lydia moved closer, all the while watching the girl pirouette and prance.

Lydia had just taken the first step onto the ice when she remembered something; Brigitta had been a nationally acclaimed figure skater, able to do tricks and routines that were scarcely to be believed. She pulled back, and just in time as the ice that had not a minute before supported her weight cracked and broke apart.

"Hey!" Lydia called, trying to get the girl's attention. "The ice is breaking apart! You need to get off of it before you get killed!"

The skater looked over at Lydia and flashed her a smile, continuing on though the ice split. In that one instant, Lydia realized that what had looked like a thin scarf a few feet away was actually a snow white length of rope, knotted around her neck like a hangman's noose. As the ice collapsed, Lydia watched the skater pick up speed before leaping into the air like a bird and spin. Two times, three, it seemed as though she wouldn't stop. But she did, and as she touched down the ice around her broke, and she sunk without a sound into the waters below.

Lydia could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears, feel battering against her ribcage. She stumbled back a few steps before turning tail and bolting for the dorm.

* * *

Sarah had been examining the mirrors of the vanity a little more closely when she heard a bang and a thud from behind her. She turned to see Lydia bracing herself against the door and looking as though she'd just run a marathon.

"What's wrong?" Sarah asked as she stood from her spot on the bench.

"I think I was almost killed, that's what's wrong." Lydia replied, ripping off her coat and collapsing on her bed.

"Why?"

Lydia recounted the tale of what had happened at the pond.

"But why would you think it was an attempt on your life?" Sarah didn't really comprehend what was going on.

"Because," Lydia huffed. "The girl at the pond was Brigitta, I'm sure of it."

"Brigitte? Are you sure?"

"It would definitely explain why she didn't seem at all panicked when the ice started to break."

"True, a dead person wouldn't be afraid of drowning."

"The only question I have is why?"

They sat in silence for a moment or two.

"You don't think…" Sarah trailed off.

"What?" Lydia prodded.

"Could it have been… y'know, _Him_?"

"He's sure as hell selfish, and I don't think he has much regard for mortals. But to kill one off outright? No, unless I'm missing something here, it doesn't make sense."

"Why not?"

"Because, he'll only do something if it benefits him in some way. Killing off an innocent girl would only get him in trouble, and he wants out bad enough to trick me, but not hurt someone I have no affiliation with whatsoever."

"In trouble?"

"Bureaucrats, ya know I hate 'em." Lydia said, imitating the poltergeist rather poorly.

"Then who?"

"What about the man we met at Halloween?"

"No, not J-" Sarah caught herself. "Even if he did have the power, there's no motivation for him to kill anyone besides me."

"Then what?" long after the question left Lydia's lips it hung in the air like a slab of meat in a butcher's shop; only rotting with each passing second.

"I have no idea," Sarah finally admitted. "Maybe it was all just a random coincidence. I mean, you said you can see spirits right? It could have happened to anyone."

"Anyone?"

"It could have happened to me too Lydia. You were just the one who saw her first."

The thought did little to comfort the Deetz girl, but she knew it would do her no good to dwell on one isolated incident. Without saying a word, she went to sleep, her dreams haunted by the events of the evening, only this time Brigitta was not the only one sinking.

* * *

But, as it turns out, it was not an isolated incident. At the end of the month authorities found the body of Becky Nurser swaying in the branches of an old oak tree, like a grisly leftover Halloween decoration, by her dorm building with another mysterious note in her hand.

_Left in the dark, we'll tear apart_

_The ones who brought us death_

_For only when, we've reached the end_

_Can our tortured souls find rest_

"This is getting out of hand." Lydia said as they returned to the dorm from Proctor's class. The normally histrionic teacher had been silent and subdued. His eyes looked sunken and haunted, when asked he'd said that he'd merely had trouble sleeping with the news of students dying left and right. It sounded plausible but there was an underlying pain beneath his veneer. But without proof, what could Sarah and Lydia do about it.

"But what do you think we can do about it?"

"We need to try and understand what's been going on since the day we met."

"Oh, you mean we need to…" Sarah trailed off. She wanted to explain, but it felt like talking about it just kept breathing new life into the journey, which while she was extremely grateful for going on it, she had no desire to repeat it again.

"Trust me, it's going to be equally painful for the both of us." Lydia replied.

When they got to their room they changed for bed and sat facing each other.

"So, who should go first?" Lydia asked.

"Do you want to?" Sarah ventured.

"Only if you don't." she replied.

"No, no." Sarah said, shaking her head. "I think it's about time I explained everything you've seen."

"Well, whenever you're ready…"

Sarah took a deep calming breath to steady her nerves, much like she did when she was getting ready to perform, maybe that was the key to getting through this, acting. Opening her eyes, though seeing a very different setting than what was before her, Sarah spoke. "Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered. I have fought my way to the castle beyond the Goblin City, to take back the child you have stolen…"

* * *

"For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great." A pause. "My will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great… Damn, why can't I ever remember that line?" a young woman in a spring green costume dress pulled a small book out from a hidden pocket in the sleeve. Opening it, she flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for. A small smile came to her face as she read, "you have no power over me."

Off in the distance, a church clock tower sounded, its bells heard loud and clear throughout the town.

Sarah Williams looked over at the enormous clock face that was perceived as average as a wall clock from her location in a small hidden park. "I don't believe it, it's seven o'clock!" she turned to the sheepdog that had accompanied her on her journey. "Come on merlin!" overhead, the dark sky opened up as thunder crashed and rain decimated the ground below. The girl and her dog ran, through streets and yards until at last they came upon an old Victorian, on the porch of which stood a middle-aged woman with one hand on her hip and the other cradling a dinner jacket. She looked very displeased.

Sarah was made to send her dog off to the garage as she went inside, her stepmother arguing with her all the way. When Sarah retaliated the Karen would try to reason with her, only irritating the teenager all the more.

"You don't know if I have plans, you don't even ask me anymore!" she lashed out at the woman who she felt had taken her mother's place in the house.

"Well I assume you'd tell me if you had a date. I'd like it if you had a date. You, you _should_ have dates at your age."

"I can't do anything right can I?" Sarah screamed as she stomped up the stairs to dry off from the storm.

As she sat before her mirror, a faux crown on her head and a steely look in her eyes, Sarah once more recited what she'd one over in the park. Her father knocked on her door, attempting to speak to her about something, but she declined rather harshly. When he informed her they'd already fed and put the baby to bed, she was more than a little enraged.

"You really did want to talk to me." She said in disbelief, getting up from her stool and marching over to her bed. "Practically broke down the door didn't you?" she looked up to her stuffed animal collection and noticed an empty slot. "Someone's been in my room again." The fire that had been momentarily banked was stoked again, and Sarah felt her temper rising. "I hate that." She said as she crossed the hall to her parents' room, where her cherished bear Lancelot was lying on the floor while baby Toby wailed. "I hate you," she said. "I hate you!" she whined.

As the baby continued to weep and moan, Sarah's frustration reached its peak. She began to recite from the little red book. Talking about the young girl who was practically a slave to her stepmother and half-brother. Then telling of the King of the Goblins who had fallen in love with her and gave her powers. The baby just, wouldn't, stop. She wished someone would save her, take her away from the monotony or the mundane world. Sarah threatened him, even as she picked him up and tried to rock him back to sleep.

"I'll say the words. No, I mustn't." she told herself. "But I can bear it no longer. Goblin King, Goblin King! Wherever you may be. Take this awful child of mine far away from me!" thunder crashed, but nothing happened. Toby continued crying. "I wish I knew what to say to make the goblins take you away." She said under her breath. As though someone had whispered it in her ear, Sarah knew. And as she set the still wailing baby back in his crib, she walked out, turning towards him and saying, "I wish the goblins would come and take you away, right now!" she said as she flicked off the light.

She had only gotten a few steps when Toby's crying had immediately been cut off. Sarah turned and went back, something was wrong. She tried the light switch, but it didn't work. "Toby?" she called as she crept to the crib. She pulled back the covers, but there was nothing there.

Shocked, Sarah stepped back. All around her there came the sound of hissing and laughter, shadows danced and ran across the walls, and figures moved everywhere as the storm reached a thunderous crescendo. An owl clawed at the French doors leading out to the balcony, trying to seek shelter. A large gust of wind blew the doors open and in the owl flew, the laughter grew louder. And all at once, where the owl was a moment before, stood a man unlike any Sarah had ever seen, in pictures or person.

"You're him aren't you? The Goblin King." Sarah said weakly. He said nothing in response. "I want my brother back please if it's all the same."

"What's said is said." He told her.

"But, I didn't mean it."

"Oh, you didn't?" he asked amusedly, as if knowing she was lying to him.

"Please, where is he?"

"You know very well where he is."

"Please bring him back. Please." At this point she was not above begging.

He smirked as he confidently strode towards her. "Sarah, go back to your room, play with your toys and costumes. Forget about the baby."

"I can't," she protested, even though every fiber of her being screamed for her to do as he asked. He terrified her, and yet intrigued her at the same time.

He seemed unaffected, single-mindedly pursuing what he was here for. "I've brought you, a gift." He told her as he raised a hand and a small orb appeared in it.

Sarah looked at it, confused. "What is it?" she asked.

He glanced at it and back at her. "It's a crystal," he said as he began to juggle it between his hands and arms. "Nothing more. But if you turn it this way, and look into it. It will show you your dreams." Sarah felt as though she was being hypnotized. "But this is not a gift for an ordinary girl who takes care of a screaming baby." He told her, shaking his head. He held it out to her. "Do you want it?" he asked. She said nothing. "Then forget about the baby."

And for a moment, Sarah was tempted. She really wanted her dreams to come true, every last one of them. But would she trade a baby who in all actuality had never done her any wrong to do so? Sarah met his gaze. "I can't," she said again, this time with tears in her eyes. "It's not that I don't appreciate what you're trying to do for me. But, I want my brother back. He must be so scared-"

"Sarah," he interrupted, the crystal turning into a snake in his hand. He passed one end of it to his other hand before looking at her. "Don't defy me." He tossed it at her neck.

Instinctively Sarah went for the snake, trying to free it from around her esophagus. It turned to a rope of magician's scarves in her hands. She dropped it to the floor and a small creature popped out of the pile, looking up at her and laughing as it scuttled away. Many voices echoed the sentiment, but when Sarah turned around the room seemed empty. She looked at the Goblin King once more, this time with ire.

"You're no match for me Sarah." He said confidently, smirk still affixed to his visage.

"But I have to get my brother back." She replied.

He shrugged, and walked a few steps to her left. "He's there," he said as he pointed out at the balcony. "In my castle." Sarah walked past him and found herself not on the second floor balcony of her home, but instead on a long dead hill overlooking an enormous maze. "Do you _still_ want to look for him?" she heard him ask. He sounded a little incredulous, but only a tiny microscopic bit.

"Is that, the castle beyond the Goblin City?" Sarah asked as she turned to look at him.

He didn't answer her. "Turn back Sarah!" he cautioned. "Turn back before it's too late."

"I _can't_," she said a third time. "Don't you understand that I can't?"

"What a pity," she heard as she turned to look at the massive obstacle, filled with many more, that she had to face.

"It doesn't look that far."

"It is further than you think, and time is short." He said from right next to her, moving away and pointing to a clock that looked to have grown out of a black and lifeless tree. An antique face, with both hands pointing to a thirteen at the top. "You have thirteen hours in which to solve the labyrinth," he said as he backed away, growing less and less opaque as he spoke. "Before your baby brother becomes one of us, forever." He disappeared, and his voice echoed one last message. "Such a pity."

* * *

Sarah recounted every single detail of her journey, from all the friends she'd made, to the fire gang, to the enchanted peach which had sent her spiraling into something like a dream, making her question just what is was she felt for the Goblin King. Eventually she got to the final confrontation, where she bested him, despite his offering everything to her, by saying what she could never before remember.

"You have no power over me!" she'd declared. And she'd fallen back to reality, watching the owl fly out the window and into the night.

She checked on the baby, who was fast asleep, and saw what she could not before see; that here was someone to share her dreams with, a friend and companion who could keep the dreams so long forgotten alive.

When her parents got home, she went to her room and sat in front of the mirror, putting away the book and her music box. When she looked up at her reflection, she saw her friend Ludo.

"Goodbye Sarah," he said. But when Sarah turned around her was not to be seen.

Turning back to the mirror she saw Sir Didymus. "And remember fair maiden," he told her. "Should you need us…" he trailed off as he disappeared.

Hoggle popped out from behind her bed. "Yes, should ya need us. For, any reason at all…" he stopped. And Sarah felt tears well up.

"I need you Hoggle." She said, her voice trembling.

"Yeh, ya do?" he asked, looking shell-shocked.

Sarah swallowed the lump in her throat. "I don't know why but… Every now and again in my life, for no reason at all. I need you, all of you."

"Ya do?" he asked once more. "Well, why didn't ya say so!" and as Sarah turned around, everyone was there. The goblins, the Wiseman and his hat, the Fireys, and her friends. They were all there celebrating with her.

* * *

"And I didn't even realize, not until after everyone had gone home, that someone was missing." Sarah concluded.

"The Goblin King?" Lydia supplied.

Sarah bit her lip and looked down at her lap for a moment before looking back up at Lydia and giving a sad smile, tears glittering in her eyes like the crystals she'd described. "Yeah…" she answered, her voice barely above a whisper. She sounded so vulnerable, Lydia had never seen her roommate this way.

"That…" Lydia struggled for words. "That was really something Sarah."

"Thanks,"

"But if you don't, if you don't hate him why did you react like that at the party?"

"Old habits die hard I guess." Sarah replied. "So, tell me about Adam and Barbra."

"Be forewarned, my story's not nearly as exciting as yours…"

* * *

She hadn't really known her house was haunted when they had moved in. Sure, she'd had an inkling, but no concrete evidence. Not until she'd found the handbook for the recently deceased in the attic and caught Adam and Barbra in her stepmother's designer sheets. They'd certainly been confused as to why she could see them, and understand the handbook when no one else could. She likes spending time with them, and wanted to do so for eternity. So she'd started drafting her suicide note to drown in the river, like her friends had. Eventually, she'd gone to seek them out and stumbled upon _Him_. He was for her, what the Goblin King was for Sarah; someone unlike she'd ever seen. He was proud of what he was, and he understood her, probably because they were a lot alike. He'd told her he needed to get out, and she'd told him she wanted to get in.

He looked at her like she was nuts. "Why?" he'd asked. She normally wouldn't want to answer, but something about the way he said it made it sound like he didn't want to psychoanalyze her and try to figure out the root of her problems, he just wanted to know why she thought death was better than life. "Well hey," he said dismissing it. "You probably have your reasons." He would have helped, in theory at least, achieve what she wanted if she let him out.

Eventually, she had no other choice. Adam and Barbra were dying and she couldn't do anything to stop it. He'd told her then he'd wanted out permanently and the only way for that to happen was for him to get married. She'd reluctantly agreed, only to save the afterlives of her friends. She hadn't realized then that he'd meant right after he'd done what she wanted. And her fight or flight instincts had chosen flight. She tried to escape, and was nearly married to a dead man when Barbra burst through the ceiling riding a sandworm. She'd felt little remorse at the time. But she had found a man's wedding band by the fireplace one day and instead of throwing it out, had strung it on a chain and wore it around her neck. She staunchly ignored the nagging feeling in the very recesses of her mind that told her she was waiting for him to come back and persisted in telling herself that it could ward off creeps who just wanted her as a notch in their belt, saying she had a steady boyfriend who would kill any bastard that put his hands on her. It wasn't a lie, but it definitely wasn't the whole truth either.

* * *

"I'm sorry that happened to you." Sarah said after Lydia had finished.

Lydia shrugged. "I'm not, not really. I got Adam and Barbra out of the deal so everything worked itself out in the end. More or less anyways."

"Until now you mean?"

"Yeah,"

"Okay, but what does this tell us about what's been happening?"

"Nothing really. Damn," Lydia swore. "Nothing proves either one of them had anything to do with it."

Sarah looked around their room before making a troubled expression. "Lydia?"

"Yes?"

"I think there's something rotten in Denmark."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, have you ever noticed how quiet it is around this dorm? And how we never see any other students around here?"

"But what about the moderator?"

"I guess, but what about any students that live here besides us? Isn't it a little odd to have one building for just two students?"

"Yeah, but what are we gonna do? What can we do?"

"Things are not always what they seem, we can't take anything for granted."

"Take anything for granted?"

"Like the fact of blaming this on people we've never even asked." Sarah nibbled on her lip in thought. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yes, but I'm hoping you're not."

"We need to call them."

Lydia looked at her and sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that."

* * *

Yay! I feel so accomplished! so until probs next week, adieu and REVIEW!


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